Much like Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, Cassie has an unhappy past and is relegated to a life beneath her, but her spirit is uplifted in the outdoors. The eerie, ghostlike call of presumed extinct birds in a secret clearing, the sound of wind in the trees, the harmony of a world without people, all give Cassie a sense of calm. But everywhere else, life is tough. Her mother believes in Big Foot. Her wisecracking but beloved African Grey parrot is a drama queen. And at age thirty, a widow without a college degree, Cassie desperately needs to earn a living, which is why, against all her principles, she lies on her resume for an office job at an elite university, making up facts about herself, creating the person she wants to be.

Her new boss is the magnetic Professor William Conner, an expert in animal behavior who recognizes the intelligence behind Cassie’s bogus resume. Soon, under his charismatic tutelage, Cassie carefully begins her personal transformation, all the while still visiting her secret clearing and her strange, iconic birds. But her future is teetering on one unbearable truth, and Cassie’s masquerade is about to come undone--in a chain of events that will transform her life and the lives of those around her--forever.