Charles Peace leads a double life, by day he's a respected local businessman, but by night he's a professional thief who stops at nothing, not even murder, to get what he wants.

A politician rises rapidly to fame and fortune and discovers that power corrupts and ultimately becomes the very type of politician he had set out to displace.

An impending V.I.P. visit causes bustle in an English village, while the Ellis family struggles with private problems.

Three modern day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town on the way to Canterbury.

An elderly Jewish man from Manchester, travels to Nazi Germany to seek the mother of a young German refugee that has attempted suicide. In Germany, Mr. Emmanuel’s efforts to seek out Hertha Rosenhein are greeted by a wall of silence from the scared Jewish community and anti-Semitic hatred from many Germans.

David Charleston, once a world renowned journalist, now lives alone maintaining the Thunder Rock lighthouse in Lake Michigan. He doesn't cash his paychecks and has no contact other than the monthly inspector's visit. When alone, he imagines conversations with those who died when a 19th century packet ship with some 60 passengers sank. He imagines their lives, their problems, their fears and their hopes. In one of these conversations, he recalls his own efforts in the 1930s when he desperately tried to convince first his editors, and later the public, of the dangers of fascism and the inevitability of war. Few would listen. One of the passengers, a spinster, tells her story of seeking independence from a world dominated by men. There's also the case of a doctor who is banished for using unacceptable methods. David has given up on life, but the imaginary passengers give him hope for the future.