When Harry begins to receive tormented letters from his childhood friend Agnes, a struggling sculptress, it reawakens his past. Harry begins to seek out Agnes, believing he can help her. After all he was the only one closest to understanding the mysterious source of her art. Ten years after her death, faced with a young, soulful girl reminiscent of Agnes, Harry feels trapped, threatened and chastened. Agnes' story encompasses his own youth, the horrors of the Holocaust, and the breadth of the American dream.