Henry Plageman is a master secret-keeper. A former Lutheran minister, he lost his faith after losing his infant son, Jack, many years ago; his wife, Marilyn, remains consumed by grief. But Henry has another life --- another woman and another child --- unknown to Marilyn. His lover, Lucy, yearns for a man she can be with openly, while their eight-year-old daughter, Blue, tries to make sense of her parents’ fractured lives. THE HALF WIVES follows these interconnected characters through one momentous day, May 22, 1897, the 16th anniversary of Jack’s birth.