A widowed biologist, Kevin Brunner, an American expat in Germany, faces a life turn at the start of his retirement. The usual aspirations like romance, family, and career are seemingly past him now. He finds himself adrift after his adult son moves far away. Kevin seeks to travel and mostly takes trips to France as his preference. On the way, he experiences melancholy sometimes, especially after discovering his late wife’s unfaithfulness. But the constant voyages enable him to reflect on his past relations, connect with family and friends, and overcome his now-and-then moodiness. Appreciating this healthy habit, he relishes each moment of his expeditions. As he feels engaged in various places he passes, acknowledging their charms, even with dull or harsh weather, what means the most to him is meeting people at all stages of life and what he learns from them, not only as a meditative flâneur but also as a human fellow. Those unexpected encounters, events, and friendships make him change, and he realizes that something beyond those lone journeys is more meaningful to him.
In a first-person narrative voice, Marvelous Days depicts a man’s persistent striving in his solitary retirement years to achieve a stable mind through extensive travel as a remedy and a gateway to newness and joy.