A third-year Ph.D. candidate named Olive Smith is enmeshed in the complexity of contemporary relationships and scientific study within the prominent biology department of Stanford University. Olive is a pragmatic with a scientific mindset who thinks long-term romantic partnerships are just an anomaly in statistics. Anh, her closest friend, is an infatuation with romance and yearns for her own happily ever after.
Olive reluctantly agrees to assist her friend by pretending to be in a romantic relationship with Adam Carlsen, a renowned and imposing professor who is disdainful of Ph.D. students and has harsh grading standards, when Anh starts to develop feelings for Olive’s recent ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. But Adam has his own motivations for going along with this ruse; he wants to boost his reputation and get funding for his studies.
Olive and Adam are drawn to each other’s wit, intelligence, and enthusiasm for science as they begin their fictitious romance. They start dating more frequently, going to social gatherings, and even planting a passionate kiss. There is unquestionable electricity between Olive and Adam, even though at first they both reject their developing affections for one another.
Olive and Adam struggle to keep up the pretence despite their developing attraction as their fictitious relationship develops. Their relatives, friends, and coworkers confront them, doubting the sincerity of their relationship. Anh is initially overjoyed by the fictitious relationship, but when she sees Olive showing real interest in Adam, she starts to get suspicious. Adam’s classmates and coworkers don’t believe that he’s suddenly turned into a sweet and considerate partner.
Adam and Olive’s love for one another grows despite the increasing strain. They develop a strong bond that transcends the confines of their fictitious relationship as they share private moments and confide in one another about their own troubles. They discuss the nature of love and wonder if it’s something that just happens or if it may be developed over time. Olive and Adam must choose whether to live a falsehood and accept the repercussions, or to embrace their actual feelings and risk the truth about their fictitious relationship coming to light. Will they follow tradition and try for something real, or will they give in to social pressure and continue their charade?
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Theme Direct Quote from the Text What It Shows Identity & Finding Your Voice “I believe in one day and someday and this perfect moment.” Jacqueline’s sense of identity grows as she imagines who she can become. Family, Love & Belonging “My grandmother tells me that I am her child.” Family gives her grounding, love,…
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Brown Girl Dreaming is Jacqueline Woodson’s poetic memoir about growing up as an African American girl in the 1960s and 70s, a time when the United States was changing but still deeply divided. Told through short, vivid poems, the book traces her life from birth to middle school, capturing the small moments that shaped her…
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The novel takes place in 1968, during a turbulent moment in American history. Three sisters—Delphine (11), Vonetta (9), and Fern (7)—live in Brooklyn with their father, Pa, and grandmother, Big Ma. Their mother, Cecile, left when they were very young, and the girls barely know her. Pa decides it is time for the sisters to…
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The story takes place in the rural American South during the late 19th or early 20th century and follows an unnamed young Black boy, his family, and their loyal hunting dog, Sounder. The family is very poor, surviving mostly on whatever the father can hunt. Sounder is their most valuable helper—strong, loyal, and deeply connected…
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