Reclusive literary legend M. M. "Mimi" Banning has been holed up in her Bel air mansion for years, but not she's writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. When Alice Whitley arrives she's put to work as a companion to Frank, the writer's eccentric son, who has the wit of Noel Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth-graders. The longer she spends with the Bannings, the more Alice becomes obsessed with two questions: Who is Frank's father? And will Mimi ever finish that book?