'Gretchen' Summary

Arthur Tracy, a man of wealth and social standing, returns to his ancestral home, Tracy Park, after years abroad, troubled and seemingly unstable. He insists that Gretchen, a woman who was with him on his journey, will be arriving soon. Meanwhile, a tragic discovery unfolds—a young child is found next to a woman frozen to death in the Tramp House, a dilapidated dwelling nearby. Arthur's brother, Frank, suspects he knows the child's identity, but keeps this information secret, fearing the consequences of its revelation. As the story unfolds, the mystery surrounding the child's origins intertwines with Arthur's mental state and the hidden secrets of the Tracy family. Frank, navigating his own complex life, faces a moral dilemma, grappling with the potential impact of truth on his own comfortable existence. Love and loss, past and present, intertwine in this story, where a child's fate becomes the catalyst for confronting deep-seated family secrets and the unraveling of a captivating romance.