The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Ethan Frome explores the longings and regrets of two spinster sisters in Gilded Age New York City.

In a basement shop on a side street near Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Square, sisters Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner sell artificial flowers and various hand-sewn articles for women. They once held lofty aspirations for their business but have learned to be content in their quiet lives making a modest income selling to a select clientele of locals from the neighborhood. Things soon change after Ann Eliza buys Evelina a birthday present, and a bachelor clockmaker enters their world . . .