
Malkie is a gay New York lawyer who has a passing encounter with Romanian university student Sofia, who is spending the summer working as a waitress in a high-end western Massachusetts town. It’s where Malkie and her family spend weekends and holidays, as do many other New Yorkers. When they meet, Sofia whispers, “If you are interested, and I think you are, you can contact me here.” Malkie ignores the overture and the little slip of paper placed in her hand.
When she returns a month later, though, Malkie decides to find out what Sofia has in mind. She believes it when Sophia says she is attracted to the lawyer, and not just as a hook-up. Can Sophia make Malkie understand she’s worthy of another woman’s love?

An International Exchange By J.P. Garland “Good evening. Is tap water alright?” Those were the first words she said. My parents and I were at a restaurant in Lenox, Massachusetts. We’ve had a house outside of town for years, and I was up as usual for a week in August. We were on the early side that night and seeing as it was not hot, we shared a table on the porch, overlooking Church Street. Lenox has long been a spot for New Yorkers and Bostonians to vacation or own second homes. In an era long gone, the families of New York bankers summered there and the husbands—always the husbands—took a train to a nearby station on Fridays and return to Manhattan on Sunday night. Lenox is known for two things. It is where Edith Wharton’s house, the “Mount,” is—now fully restored with spectacul
