Both living near Paris in the 1930s, the expatriate American novelists Edith Wharton and Louis Bromfield shared a passion for gardening even more than for writing and travel. Despite being 34 years apart in age and of conflicting political views, they cultivated a close friendship. As Wharton moved through her last years, she intrigued Bromfield with her fascination for gossip and stories of murder. Though the looming specter of another war in Europe dismayed them both, they found solace in their gardens and in their affection for each other. A CULTIVATED FRIENDSHIP dramatizes their correspondence and imagines their interactions when visiting each other’s gardens.