It's 1969, and the times are changing. America is about to land a man on the moon, the Vietnamese war is in full swing, and racial tension is on the rise.

Things just aren't as simple as they used to be - at least, not for Rabbit Angstrom.

His wife has left him with his teenage son, his job is under threat and his mother is dying.

Suddenly, into his confused life - and home - comes Jill, an eighteen-year-old runaway who becomes his lover.

But when she invites her friend to stay, a young black radical named Skeeter, the pair's fragile harmony soon begins to fail.