The Peculiar Grace of a Shaker Chair: a teacher dreams of summer

The Mount is a ragged little stump in the woods, a lonely child with three minivans, an asthmatic yellow bus, a grimy cafeteria and a collection of dorms that could only be described as fixer-uppers.

Jeff Green has been teaching there for eight years, talking to Shaker ghosts and planning his great escape. But now that he is the interim head of the English Department, his last year on The Mount is going to be plagued with unwanted responsibilities, unforseen romance and rivals who will stop at nothing to usurp his throne.