"In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she manages to get pregnant. Back home, in New England, Little Ray becomes a ski instructor. Her son, Adam, grows up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past. Years later, looking for answers, Adam will go to Aspen. In the...

Dr. Wilbur Larch, saint and obstetrician, founder and director of an orphanage in rural St. Cloud, Maine in first half of this century, is an ether addict and abortionist. He is also the mentor of Homer Wells, an orphan who is never adopted.