Red grows up in the rarefied world of a privileged Manhattan childhood: a world of uniformed doormen, private schools, and elegant townhouses. This is also the world of the 1960s, when societal conflicts are disrupting previously accepted patterns of American life.

As author John F. Reinus reveals through richly detailed observation, there's a powerful current beneath the surface, and the presumed advantages of his birthright come at a heavy cost, one that is amplified by the sorrow of an unacknowledged love.

The author weaves a tapestry of minute details, as seen in Red's journey from childhood to adulthood, inviting us to compare what's on the surface of our own lives to the hidden forces that shape us.