In the stifling heat of summer in a northern Canadian mining town, Marie, a young teacher, is fascinated by her new friend Corrine, a waitress who is determined to squeeze every drop of experience and sensation from life. As summer ends, Marie marries an immigrant from Eastern Europe. She has chosen Ervant because she senses -- or hopes -- that despair will not defeat him as it has the men who spent their lives working for the mine. This is the first volume in the False Pretenses trilogy, which is continued in Affairs of Art and An Appropriate Place.