An archaeologist struggles to unearth her own true passions in the "richest, most absorbing novel" by the author of The Dark Flood Rises (Joyce Carol Oates).

Frances Wingate is one of England's most renowned archaeologists, having recently discovered a lost city in the Saharan desert. On the outside, she appears to have it all. But beneath the surface, the scientist deals with the demands of children and family—as well as a tumultuous, on-again, off-again romance with a married historian.

It's only when Frances throws herself into her work that she discovers some surprising connections to others, in this novel about the search for meaning in life that is "alive with ideas" (Anatole Broyard, The New York Times).