New York City, 1895: In a time of strict morals and manners, a writer married to an abusive man and a publisher married to a dying woman are trapped in an elevator together for a weekend, a circumstance which changes both of their lives forever.

SYNOPSIS:

On a chilly Friday morning in 1895, unhappily married Philippa Forrester packs breakfast, lunch and dinner in a hamper, then slips away from her middle-class house on Staten Island before dawn. She travels alone into Manhattan, seeking a publisher for the novel she’s written.

Without an appointment at VR Publishing, she is told to have a seat in the office lobby. Nine hours later, as editors and their assistants are leaving for the day, she still has not been seen. The owner of the publishing house, Oliver van Rensselaer, finds her asleep in the waiting room, partially concealed by a palm frond. He gently wakes her, and Pippa explains that she’s been waiting all day to give him her manuscript. After a short chat, Oliver takes the manuscript and puts it in his satchel, then locks up the office and accompanies her to the elevator.

Because it is after five o’clock, the elevator attendant has gone for the day. Pippa has never ridden in an elevator before, nor been alone in such a close space with an unknown man. But Oliver assures her there’s nothing to worry about, and Pippa steps aboard, taking a seat on the velvet bench at the back of the small box.

When the elevator stalls, Oliver cannot get it to run again, despite his best efforts. Because Monday is Decoration Day, Pippa and Oliver realize they may be trapped alone together for several days.

When they are rescued on Tuesday morning, Pippa returns to her husband and Oliver returns to his wife. But a fierce connection was forged between them in the elevator, and life, as they knew it before, can never be the same again.