This novel follows Allyson Healey, who has just graduated high-school and it is the summer between her leaving her high-school and going to university.
And she is one of those guided tours for the young people in Europe. The tour has come to a close and she is now in England with her best friend and the rest of the group and they are off to see a Shakespeare’s play when Allyson decides she want to see the alternative production of twelfth night that is going on.
So they lied to their leader and went to watch the play, which is very contrary to Allyson personality, she had grown up in a very sheltered life where she is protected and most of her life was carefully planned for her by her parents.
At that play she meets a boy named Willem and they have their movement. Later on she runs into him the next day as she was preparing to head back to London and eventually take her flight back to the United States. On a whim she decides to go to Paris with him because they didn’t get to go to Paris on their guided tour. And they have a glorious day in Paris, things are fantastic and wonderful, but next day when she wakes up she realizes that Willem is gone.
Things from there go downhill really fast, Allyson is not used to be alone in a new country and all of these things come crashing at her and she realizes that was she has done while going out of her comfort zone, although she does get back to home safely it turns out to be a very emotional trip for her.
When I first pick up this novel I had an expression that this will be about the first time in Europe but it is way more than that. The major part of the book is about the years following that incident and how everything is influenced by that one single day. This leads to years of growth and self discovery. She goes off to university and realizes how unhappy she is and ends up trying to change herself for the better.
The progression of her personality from this one day up till the end of this book, I thought is very reasonable.