The Life Cycle of the Common OctopusThe Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she'll find the answer by retracing her father's steps in Scotland, where an old friend of his still lives, now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox. When Lennox invites her to spend the weekend at his centuries-old estate, she meets his enveloping, seemingly perfect family, who charm her, baffle her with their Britishness, and do almost anything to make her feel welcome. Except answering her questions. As she continues pulling at the thread of her family's secret, Pen falls in love for the first time while much of what she thought she knew falls apart. Meanwhile, Pen's best friend Alice, an aspiring actor, has come to Scotland for her own reasons. She sees Edinburgh as her portal to the theatre. The star of this year's production, she's making the most of the power she wields as an object of desire, until an affair with her tutor begins to slip from her control.