Its the height of summer 1999, when local newspaper the Record Sun receives numerous tipoffs from anonymous callers warning of violence, weapons stockpiling, and rampant child abuse at the nearby homeschool on Hearts Content Road. Hungry for a big break into serious journalism, ingénue columnist Ivy Morelli sets out to meet the enigmatic leader of the homeschool, Gordon St. Onge-known to many as The Prophet. Soon, Ivy ingratiates herself into the sprawling Settlement, a self-sufficient counterculture community that many locals fear to be a wild cult, and finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gordon. Meanwhile, across town, Brianna, a gifted teen with frenzied orange hair, paints her political and personal visions. At the behest of her brothers, Brianna joins the community. As her complicated, awkward relationship with Gordon unfolds, Brianna reveals herself to be a shy yet passionate individual with a penchant for revolution.