The marriage plot

While finishing her senior thesis, Madeline Hanna meets and begins a relationship with Leonard Bankhead. Meanwhile, Madeline's old "friend, " Mitchell Grammaticus, resurfaces and declares his belief that they are destined to be together. As time passes, Madeline and Leonard graduate college and begin their life together, but must contend with the secrets Leonard keeps from everyone. Mitchell, meanwhile, travels the world to try and forget Madeline and encounters questions of life, love, and the existence of God in the process.