The United States are split apart by war. The north is governed by the Kabu, an alien, tentacled race while in the south, The Friends of Liberation are intent on removing all off-worlders from Earth. By collaborating with the Kabu, Dinah has ensured precious housing for herself, her friend Meghan and their kids (their husbands being casualties of war). But it also puts her on the bad side of the Friends, not the best place to be the way the war is going.
There’s some pretty obvious parallels going on between the story and our world today. But instead of providing a tiresome political metaphor, A.M. Dellamonica choses to focus on the outlandish nature of the aliens and the intimate emotions of the humans instead. She paints a great picture of how people face the unfamiliar and cope with the uncertainty of life during wartime.
