Exactly where he last saw her, struggling writer Gale Jones once again encounters the girl of his dreams — or, rather, the beautiful stranger who haunts his restless slumber. She dons the same blue dress from seven summers ago, when they shared a dance on the deck of a cruise ship on the Saint Lawrence River.

But she has apparently forgotten that magical evening back in August 1992. Now as listless as she is nameless, the young woman reveals little of her current life except that she always comes to the Old Port of Montreal at daybreak. And so there on early mornings Gale meets with his new friend “Dawn” to make good on their new promise: she will help him fall in love with the sunrise, and he will help her find her true name.

Madeleine biscuits with masala chai, classical music on cassettes and vinyls, fireworks during the festive summer months — from Canada Day to the New Year, the last six months of the old millennium mark their last chance to live in the hazy past.