After twenty years of creative and professional struggle, the American painter Edward Hopper reconnects with his old schoolmate, the artist Josephine Nivison. The joining of their lives brings seismic change to both. In the summer of 1923, Edward and Jo, both unrecognized painters in their early forties, become reacquainted at the Gloucester Artists Colony. Jo, the more established of the two, inspires Edward to try watercolor, a medium he does not use. The results are exciting. At summer’s end, they return to New York’s Greenwich Village, now courting as a couple. Jo arranges for Edward to participate in a watercolor show at the Brooklyn Museum, where he wins the show’s purchase prize and sells his first painting in ten years. As their relationship continues, Edward seeks more from Jo, who resists, focusing on her career. He convinces her to marry him, and newfound intimacy escalates their conflict. Jo is caught between her interdependence with Edward and her need to maintain her own identity as an artist. She becomes both his fiercest advocate and a deeply resentful competitor. Within a few months of their marriage, Edward attains long-awaited creative and commercial success. As his reputation skyrockets, Jo’s declines. What is the price of genius, and who pays?