Pilgrims

Snatches of poetry ("Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand") found in a tiny box provide the inspiration for Pilgrims, a light-hearted fantasy about love and commitment. In a future world, marriage has been forbidden because The Ancients discovered it led to breakdowns, insanity and object throwing. Instead, people renew their coupling vows every seven years, often taking advantage of the escape clause. This seems perfectly natural to Celia, who's celebrating her 20th birthday, her Woman's Birthday, when she becomes legally free to choose her first coupling partner. She's hoping that will be Mike, her fellow literary restorer, who's working with her on creating a story for the upcoming Festival of the Ancients from the poetry fragments. Mike loves Celia but, inspired by those heady fragments and by a book on ancient coupling practices, he's decided to convince her to marry him. Given that this radical practice will mean they must leave the City and live in the wilderness without any technology or rent control, Mike is going to have to do a lot of convincing. And fast. The boat leaves in three hours and they still have to take care of all the preliminaries listed in the book (like the "shower"). Complicating Mike's plans is Celia's muscular intended, Drake, who's rarin' to couple with the birthday girl himself.