Book, Music & Lyrics by DAVID AUSTIN

Arthur Danby hasn't stepped outside since 4:32 AM the night of his eighth birthday, thirty-two years ago tonight; the night a small boy made the choice that would forever alter the course of his story.

Isolated inside the walls of his family's Boston bookstore, Arthur spends his days shuffling through aisles, avoiding human connection at all costs. The only person with whom Arthur has the remotest connection is Hannah Dupree, his quirky, unwittingly hilarious, caring, and... not-a-little-talkative next-door neighbor.

Only when he is alone, tucked upstairs in his attic bedroom, does Arthur Danby comes to life. The instant his pen hits a blank piece of paper, the shop bookcases below transform. The Cooking & Baking section becomes Clara Reilly’s quaint cobblestone kitchen. The Wine & Spirits racks morph into Ruthie Day's pub. The floor-to-ceiling World Religions topple to form the pews where Father O’Shaugnessey scirbbles his 1,664th sermon.

Finally, as the fictional town of Bell Hollow, Ireland bursts into existence, from the floor of the Nature & Adventure section rises a green hill of novels. On it stands Allana Reilly, the woman Arthur Danby created and turned his life over to 32 years ago this very night.

Tonight is Arthur Danby's 40th birthday. Can he write (and rewrite) an ending that Allana approves of? Will Hannah discover the dark secret of Arthur's past and finally find the courage to reveal that she’s in love with him... before he hangs himself at 4:32 AM?