Plunge!

the long version

Sally was a New York career woman when David showed up in her life. Their first dinner date was July 13, 1977, the night of the New York Blackout. Six weeks later he told her he had accepted a job in Nigeria. After a romantic weekend at the Pierre Hotel, David left the city. "The noise of the engines was muffled through the window, and as the plane taxied to the runway, the sound faded away, like a love song drawing to a melancholy close." As David struggled to clear a jungle to build a paper mill in West Africa, Sally worked at her fast-paced job, occasionally flew private planes, and led the tenants of her Park Avenue apartment building into battle against her notorious landlord. Over the next nine months, they corresponded--openly, often with humor--and had three brief reunions: in Nigeria, London and New York.