Taking its cue from the fractured times it describes between 1960 and today, each beautifully interwoven tale is deeply rooted in the sixties, each is haunted by the Vietnam war. This is a book about a group of peers from small-town Harwich, Connecticut: in 1960, there's a newcomer to the town, who introduces Bobby Garfield to the joy of reading and the horrors of 'low men in yellow coats'; by 1966, it's bellbottom pants, pot, patchouli and peace-signs and at Maine University, Pete, who has fallen victim to the addictive game of 'hearts in Atlantis', will learn a lesson in humanity; by 1983, 'Nam vet 'Blind Willie' is paying penance; in 1999, there are reunions, funerals, and the eternal questions - 'why we're in Vietnam'; a year later, Bobby comes home to where his heart is, where the past is always present, as 'Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling'.