It all begins with a correspondence between two quite different women: 28-year-old Sara from Haninge, Sweden, and 65-year-old Amy from Broken Wheel, Iowa. After two years of exchanging books, letters and thoughts on the meaning of literature and life, Sara, who has never been anywhere in her life, decides it's time to visit Amy. But when she gets there, she finds her friend's house empty, Amy's funeral guests just heading home...So, Sara finds herself all alone. But what choice do the inhabitants of Broken Wheel have but to take care of their bewildered tourist? And what choice does Sara have, faced with a growing desire to honour her friend and her beloved little town, but to set up her perfect bookshop with all the books she and Amy shared - from Joyce Carol Oates and Iris Murdoch to Bridget Jones and Little House on the Prairie?
