Financial Crisis

Francesca "Chess" Varani is an ultra-bright, sassy, but vulnerable Barnard freshwoman from a blue-collar background in the vibrantly gritty New York City of the mid-'80s. She strikes up a volatile and somewhat toxic friendship with drama-queen classmate Kendra Marr-Löwenstein and falls into the bewitching orbit of her Salingeresque, high-toned family. Upon graduation, she moves into the Marr-Löwenstein house in the West Village as a secretary/girl-of-all-work.

In the beginning was Jacqueline, and crossings on the Star Ferry with warm Hong Kong breezes blowing strands of long, black hair across her face as her eyes gazed into his. When investment banker Alexander “Dusty” Street returns to Hong Kong 20 years later, everybody wants him to save a huge acquisition, stabilize panicking financial markets, and return home to New York. The choice is obvious, until the love of his life reappears.