Summary

At a fraudulent modeling agency amidst a 1968 New York City garbage strike, Lillian Kagwa, the agency’s secretary, and Brian West, a parole officer investigating the agency’s founder, first cross paths.

Prior to her emigration to New York, Lillian lived under the regime of Uganda President Milton Obote, whose secret police “spread wickedness wherever they went” (4). While driving to the capitol with her cousins one day, the police stopped them and shot and killed one of her cousins. She fled to the States within the year.

Upon meeting Lillian, Brian increased the frequency of his visits to the agency, moving the founder to fire Lillian and Brian to shut down the agency. Lillian found a lower-paying job at a law firm and downsized her apartment. Brian gave Lillian space but could not keep his thoughts off her: “It was as if...