Set in a parallel-universe United States in which the government has recently been overthrown by a military coup, the story is narrated by a lonely young grammar professor, Riley, who is suddenly branded a traitor by the new regime. Bewildered by the charges, and fearing a death sentence, Riley manages to flee to an anarchist commune in the wilderness. After a lifetime of feeling alienated, of desperately longing for friendship, Riley is astonished to be accepted and loved by the anarchists—to come to love the anarchists in return. But when the anarchists reveal a plot to assassinate the authoritarian dictator of the country, Riley is forced to choose whether to support the plot—to return to the capital and help the anarchists bomb the headquarters—or to lose their newfound family forever.