Mae Borowski is a 20-year-old college dropout returning to her struggling hometown of Possum Springs, hollowed out since the coal mines closed. She reconnects with old friends: the intelligent but gloomy Beatrice "Bea" Santello; the hyperactive anarchist Greggory "Gregg" Lee; and Gregg's quiet, thoughtful boyfriend Angus Delaney. She also discovers that another old friend, Casey Hartley, has disappeared without explanation.