In Pursuit of the Prodigal Louis Auchincloss tells the story of a rebel, a mature man born to wealth, social position, and the influence they guarantee, who forsakes his wife and children, quits the comfortable world of Parmelee Cove, the family estate on Long Island, spurns the family law firm, even the family money, to seek what love and glory life has for him with his wits and merit—as a man and not an institution.