The year is 1974 and Susan Barron has finished her PhD in psychology. She looks forward to moving from graduate student to assistant professor. After months of an unsuccessful job search, she faces another unexpected transition---a move from New York City to Canada. Her dissertation advisor, Dan Kavline, has accepted a senior faculty position at a university in Vancouver, British Columbia. He recommends Susan apply for an opening in a nearby institution in Victoria. He offers her a co-authorship on a textbook as an incentive to make the move. Faced with financial hardships but determined to start her academic career, Susan opts to accept the only faculty position offered. Susan's closest friend begs her to reconsider and warns Susan that Dan's motives are not pure. Susan is aware of Dan's reputation for serial extramarital affairs with collaborators but is confident she can maintain a professional relationship only. Susan arrives in BC and encounters several shocking surprises. Dan suggests adding sex to their relationship to enhance their professional collaboration, a proposition Susan rejects. Susan discovers Dan lied about using his academic connections to secure her appointment in Victoria. Susan meets Dan's wife and finds that Mona Kavline is not a deceived suffering spouse but a beautiful and mysterious woman who practices witchcraft. Susan faces a further burden when her new department presents unexpected challenges. Her faculty appointment is contingent on her ability to teach Introductory Psychology courses enrolling hundreds of students. Her department colleagues are disinterested in welcoming a newcomer, and the embittered department chairman is antagonistic to new faculty. Students and colleagues view her as an interloper from the States taking a job away from a qualified Canadian. This is not the vibrant intellectual department environment she dreamed about as a graduate student. The fall term grinds on and Susan experiences crushing loneliness. She seeks moral support from another first-year faculty colleague, Lucas Selkirk. Susan and Lucas become friends despite their differences. Susan sees her current faculty position as a steppingstone to a more prestigious department while Lucas relishes the university's relaxed obscurity as an escape from his former competitive academic environment. Susan is overwhelmed by her teaching commitments and cannot meet the tight schedule needed to complete the textbook. When she tells Dan she is unable to write, he offers to travel to Victoria to help her. He makes it clear sex is part of the deal. Feeling trapped, Susan reluctantly agrees to Dan's conditions. From a work standpoint, Dan's one-week stay in Victoria is a success. Susan rekindles her intellectual connection with Dan and finishes her textbook chapters. However, she is despondent about letting Dan coerce her into a sexual relationship of convenience. The spring term starts, and the department announces the teaching evaluation of all first-year faculty. Susan receives a positive review, but Lucas's evaluation goes awry. He turns to Susan for reassurance. The misery of Lucas's situation draws them close and they spend a weekend together. This passionate turn in their relationship is short-lived after Lucas meets Dan. Lucas withdraws and spends his free time in therapy at a retreat on a remote island. Dan reveals he is returning to New York for the summer to work on another book project. Before leaving, Dan tells Susan he loves her. He wants to divorce his wife and arrange a faculty position for Susan in his department. Susan, startled by Dan's proposal, stalls for time. Lucas lands another shocker when he discloses his engagement to a counseling psychologist he met at the therapy retreat. Susan has achieved her goal to advance her career. The textbook is on schedule and the department has praised her work. The success is bittersweet because Susan's pride in her accomplishments is ta

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