Christmas of 1183 finds Henry II of England and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine together in the castle at Chinon, where he flaunts his latest mistress while she plots against him with their sons, all the time loving each other to distraction.

"It's the late 1930s in New York. Phillip Gellburg is an executive and the only Jew among the WASPs at a very Establishment Wall Street bank. His wife, Sylvia, is obsessed with news of Nazi Germany. After seeing a photo of old Jewish men forced to scrub the sidewalk with toothbrushes, she becomes mysteriously paralyzed in the legs. The only one who perceives Sylvia's fears and longings is Dr. Hyman - a man as passionate and empathetic as Phillip is...