Love, Work, Children

Morningside Heights, a Manhattan neighborhood sandwiched between Columbia University and the Hudson River, is home to an eclectic mix of academics, struggling artists, and rooted families. In this distinctive world, Peter Frankel, a successful partner in a prestigious law firm, lives a seemingly contented life with his talented wife and his two Ivy Leagueeducated children. Yet in middle age Peter finds himself discontent. His wifes narrowness and her preoccupation with appearances leaves him cold, his job does not fulfill his creative bent, and he fears that his children, Susan and Louis, have grown into skeptical young adults who shun marriage and stability. So when Peters wife is badly hurt in a car accident and lies in a coma, he finds himself guiltily relievedand newly drawn toward his children as they too struggle with ambivalent feelings about the mother whos never really shown them much love. As Susan, a cerebral doctoral student,...