National Network for Equitable Library Service

Old-school lawyer Albert Schmidt has spent years climbing the ladder of success. But now, at what should be the pinnacle of his career, he is widowed, forcibly retired and harbors mixed feelings about his daughter's impending marriage. Suddenly, a seductive young woman asks Smitty what he wants.

In his novel Indian Summer, William Dean Howells presents a mellow but realistic story that has the complete feel of that delightful time of the year, although the plot actually spans several seasons. The Indian summer aspect applies to a sophisticated gentleman, Theodore Colville, who has just entered his middle years as he returns to a scene, Florence, Italy, that played an important part in his early manhood. It was here twenty years earlier that he first fell in love, seemingly successfully until a sudden and harsh rejection.