Lizbeth lives a "free, feral, unfettered" lifestyle at Popes Creek in Virginia--an oasis where innocence is lost and bad decisions are made, spontaneously, like Lizbeth's marriage to Jayden--a troubled soldier who fears deployment to Iraq. After his dishonorable discharge, Lizbeth attempts to heal Jayden, finds herself overburdened, suffocating; she seeks solace from Dusty, a Vietnam veteran who lives in her friend's basement. She relies on Dusty and his words both inspire and haunt her; when he dies, homeless, she delves into a dark place gripped by fear and a loathing for an unjust society that denigrates the elderly and the disabled.