The fellowship

"A middle-aged Caribbean writer searches for purpose in mid-life, after the death of her father, the departure of her children, and a failed marriage. In her last throw of the dice, she applies for a one-year fellowship at a mid-sized university in Cambridge, MA. It's exclusively to female scholars, artists, and writers who want a second chance in order to return to their professional lives, specifically lives interrupted by motherhood. In the academic program she tries to come to terms with a new culture and the unfamiliar puzzle that is America. She is forced to deal with race issues, and discovers first -hand a progressive feminism which is quite different from what she is used to back home. But despite the differences, and sometimes quite acrimonious political arguments, deep bonds of friendship are developed. But the answers for which she searches, she finds elsewhere. She rents a small basement flat from a retired economist and they become friends. And it is through their weekly afternoon teas that she discovers their connection in a mystery they share. And it is from here, quite unexpectedly, that her future unfolds."--