Trophy House begins with the construction of a totally inappropriate and enormous house, a "trophy house", which unexpectedly comes to threaten the tranquillity of what appears to be one woman's perfect life and marriage. Dannie Faber has lots of reason to feel blessed. A children's book illustrator, she shares a loving marriage with Tom, an M.I.T. professor, with whom she divides her time between one of Boston's finest suburbs and a beloved beach house in Truro, on Cape Cod. And then, for reasons she could not possibly have foreseen, Dannie's life begins to unravel.