The book opens as Livia Del Sarto starts to feel the effects of an injection of LSD. She is in a private clinic in Sydney. Her psychiatrist suggested the drug would speed up her therapy. She experiences an explosion of feelings that send her on an emotional roller coaster that is both confusing and liberating. Livia recently left her husband, Martin Ridley, when she discovered he was involved with another woman. He is a complex, domineering man who is unable to commit to one relationship yet unwilling to let Livia go. Against the social revolution of the 1970s, sexual attractions and rejections fuel their story and of those around them.