Set in 1955，the novel focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April，self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the Revolutionary Hill Estates.April，with her thespian ambitions and her plans to move to Paris，is doomed，ultimately，to failure.The opening scene，in which she stars in an embarrassingly bad amateur dramatic production of The Petrified Forest，is painful because her hopes are so earnest and honest...