Ellie is twenty-four years old, stuck in a dead-end job, and questioning the meaning of life when she meets the much older Calvin. It's as if her deepest wish has been granted. Star of the Buddhist teaching circuit in New York's Greenwich Village, his wisdom is exactly what she's been seeking. When she becomes the center of his attention, it's almost pure bliss... until it becomes clear that Calvin expects sex as part of the bargain. At first reluctant, Ellie gradually falls ever more deeply in love, until Calvin is all she can think about. Calvin's lectures stress the Buddhist concept of non-attachment, but that doesn't salve her wounds when he abandons her. Suddenly alone, Ellie must find a way to heal from her loss-but not before devotion to her teacher takes her halfway across the world to Tibet, and puts her life in real danger. Hope for the Worst asks how far we will go for love, and what happens when we reach our limit.