Married couple Ivan and Prue, both experts in language and communication, teach at the same New England liberal arts college. But their similarities end there. A tightly wound philosophy professor, Ivan reveres logic and order above all. Prue is quite the opposite: a pioneer in the emerging field of biolinguistics, she is bold and vibrant, full of life and feeling. Thus far, they have managed to weather their differences. But lately, an odd distance has settled in between them. When Prue's unstable father barrels into town, his arrival unleashes a series of crises that force the couple to confront their problems.