Anne Tyler's retelling of the Shakespeare play "The taming of the shrew." Kate, a socially awkward young woman, adored by the preschool children she teaches but misunderstood by her peers. Her father is a scientific genius, but not so great on emotions. About to lose his (equally genius, equally socially inept) research assistant, Pyotr Cherbakov, because of visa problems, and desperate to save the project that is his life's work, he comes up with...

The story of the Roman general Caius Martius Coriolanus, and his quest for revenge after his banishment from Rome.