The book takes place in a world where sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest, and most children are conceived through artificial insemination. It is common for people to develop intense levels of attraction toward fictional characters. The protagonist's mother tells the protagonist that she was conceived through sex, and this makes the protagonist and other characters uncomfortable to think about throughout the book. The mother is very upset that sex between husbands and wives is now considered taboo and tries to resist this social norm. The protagonist ends her first marriage after her husband tries to initiate sex with her. Her mother takes the boyfriend's side. The She has several fictional characters that she considers to be boyfriends, and other people insinuate that she is raping them by having sexual fantasies involving them. The end of the book involves the protagonist sexually assaulting a child.