The book leaps out at her in the bookstore: a diamond-studded Puerto Rico constellation gracing a black vellum cover, with an enigmatic name - M. Dominguez - in the lower right-hand corner.
For Tatum Vega, out of place at a prestigious East Coast college, it is a lifeline. She writes her first piece of fan mail to the author. When he writes back, she finds herself drawn into an all-consuming and undefinable relationship with the older, charismatic Dominguez.
Over a decade later, Tatum has constructed a new life for herself, but when a reporter contacts her out the blue, this careful separation from her former existence crumbles. Dominguez has been accused of assault by another woman, and the reporter is looking for corroboration.