It all began in the summer of 1979 ... Sylvia Gardner is a naive library clerk who lives with her dysfunctional mother in Richport, Illinois. Vivian tells her daughter not to trust men because they only want to use her. After being dumped by her first boyfriend, Sylvia falls in love with an English actor after watching him on a PBS drama. Researching Alexander Thorpe's life and career for two years, she saves her money so she can visit him in his Cotswolds village. She stays at the Windrush Arms Hotel, soon discovering they share a secret connection. Complications ensue when Harry Livingstone, the hotel's drunken proprietor, takes a fancy to the young American. As in her dreams, Sylvia and Alexander get together - but with unexpected results."