Unwanted Significance

When race and ethnicity mean nothing to a man and woman in love-but everything to their families-everyone gets hurt.

In 1995, when Tyler Carson and Alana Adler meet, their chemistry is instant. He's a psychology professor. She's a linguist and musician. Both are 38. He is White. She is Black. Neither has made much time for serious relationships, until a train trip changes their trajectory.

But their growing passion, played out in atmospheric settings from Cape Cod to San Francisco and Montan...