“A perceptive and moving tale of an African-American middle-class marriage struggling to right itself.” —Publishers Weekly
 
Justin and Sally Peters are both passionate educators—Justin a hardened, Harvard-educated professor of literature at a small public college, and Sally a gentle elementary school teacher, teaching her students that happiness and joy require strength and perseverance. They’ve had a calm and loving marriage, enlivened by their curious four-year-old daughter, Giselle.
 
But suddenly Sally, whose past is full of loss, begins to pull away from the man in whom she once found comfort and safety. When Giselle starts asking him if Mommy is okay, Justin worries that Sally is on the verge of leaving him. Is she harboring feelings for a lost lover or, Justin wonders, was she ever really meant to be his wife? As Sally retreats deeper and deeper into herself, Justin wonders if her past has come to claim her once and for all.
 
As deep snow falls in Brooklyn, Justin and Sally’s relationship is put to the test. What once was a warm and cozy marriage bed becomes as cold as the encroaching winter frost, and the couple must decide if staying together is in everyone’s best interest . . .
 
“Extremely deserving of its title, this gorgeous, meditative book is a graceful rendering of one couple’s journeys and explorations toward and away from each other. A moving love story, it shows us how a deferred dream can erode a marriage and how grace can sometimes put us to the test, even as it redeems.” —Edwidge Danticat, author of Claire of the Sea Light
 
“One gets a good sense of how difficult it is for wounded people to trust and love each other fully . . . a deeply felt and compassionate novel.” —Library Journal