Isis, otherwise The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, is granddaughter and spiritual heir of Salvador Whit, patriarch of the Luskentyrians, who live in a low-tech commune and reject most technology even at great inconvenience to themselves. They also run their lives according to a makeshift collection of beliefs and obsessive little rituals. The heart of the novel intercuts Isis' voyage through southern England, dealing with rastas, policemen, racist skinheads and other dubious characters of a sort she has never encountered, with her recitation of the official history of the cult and the rationale behind its rules.