Once again, in Dorothea and Preston, a story of love, David Bachelor has captured humanity at its awkward but noble best, striving as always against unforeseen odds. In 1940 while hate and destruction in Europe were building to a second world war, Dorothea Dolan runs her quiet boarding house on the shores of Lake Michigan. Here she loves and cares for the elderly who have been broken by the Great Depression. Dorothea's commitment to her charges is absolute and her tacit motto is "no one will suffer" as she attempts to rescue them from slow and painful declines. Into this setting Michigan State Police Detective Preston Duhamel strides in search of thieves and incorrigibles-who he finds, and sometimes who find him. Preston, however, is fleeing his own afflictions. With redemption just around the corner, Dorothea tries to help her lover and herself, as they are both challenged by elemental powers beyond their control.