Grafton House

Grafton House, a Harvard research center located in a Newport, RI mansion, is hosting a conference on international immigration policy on a Fourth of July weekend. The stories of academics, lovers, hapless criminals Newport police and others whose lives are touched by the conference are woven together by a benevolent narrator:


• Dr. Anettka Gardiner is a young Pakistani labor economist married to Paul Gardiner, a much older businessman who spends most of his time in Paris. Anettka is flirting with the charismatic Deputy Director. Dr. Suleiman Khan, a famous Pakistani economist, dislikes Anettka because she is openly hostile to Islam. 


• Dr. Phoebe Snow is investigating allegations that the center favors foreign staff. She has discovered she is pregnant after ending a long affair, and falls in love with a reporter covering the conference. 


• Tobie Shaw, who manages the center’s antiquated computer system, was inadvertently responsible for the death of an ex-boyfriend in a botched robbery by Fat Willie and George Rakylz who are in Newport and want Tobie’s help. George, a batshit crazy MIT grad student, is planning a terrorist attack on Grafton House. This brings in the Newport Police Department and culminates in an explosive conference.