After a bomb destroys a railway carriage, the four survivors repair to the villa of one, Mrs. Delahunty, a writer of romance novels, a woman with a past. The others are an aging British general, a young German man, and Aimee, an American girl orphaned in the blast. As these four strangers recover in Umbria's countryside and become friends, Aimee's uncle, a cold and childless academic who studies red carpenter ants, arrives to fetch her. Mrs. Delahunty fears this may not be in Aimee's best interests, begins to drink heavily, and fails in her attempts to connect with Aimee's uncle. Meanwhile, a persistent detective investigates the blast. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

身罹癌症、家庭破碎的中年男子納善，退休後特意搬到布魯克林定居，打算孤老一生，卻沒想到布魯克林才是他人生的起點…… 納善開始探索布魯克林的一切：街角的餐館、餐館的女服務生、商店的老闆，甚至與失聯多年的外甥湯姆重逢。在與同樣失意的湯姆攜手探索新生活之餘，納善逐漸發現身邊的小人物們，若不是有不堪回首的過去，就是有徒具空殼的生活；但他們都選擇了布魯克林止痛療傷、重新開始，這些小人物的命運，也逐漸與他的人生交纏……

Three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other -- to become brothers again like they used to be. Their "spiritual quest", however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray).