Morton River Valley

the long version

Paris Collins - named for the city where she was conceived - changes teaching jobs every two years. Invariably she leaves behind an astonished lover who simply couldn't believe Paris's warnings that she would move on. Now Paris is the troubled New England hamlet of Morton River Valley. Here she meets Peg - whose sexy butch ways captivate her. Peg's independence seems a safe and perfect match for Paris's way of live - but is it? Paris finds herself embroiled in Morton River controversies - an environmentally destructive real estate proposal, and drastic budget cuts in the Valley's social programs. And she becomes entangled in the Scala family: with stubborn matriarch Sophia; with Maddie, Sophia's young lesbian daughter, whose sexual naivete awakens old pain and new protectiveness in Paris; and with Giulia, Maddie's fiery sister...so alluring, so contradictory..." --From back cover