The novel explores the life of a politically radical American woman who, after becoming involved with various revolutionary movements in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, flees to Liberia to escape the FBI. In Liberia, she marries a government official and becomes embroiled in the country's own political turmoil, witnessing and participating in the complex interplay of power, colonialism, and personal relationships. As the narrative unfolds, the protagonist grapples with her role in the political landscape, her identity, and the consequences of her actions, both in her personal life and in the broader context of the African nation's violent history.

The book revolves around a collection of interconnected stories that explore the lives of various Haitian individuals, both in Haiti and in the Haitian-American community in the United States. Central to these stories is a character known as "the Dew Breaker," a former Haitian torturer who has reinvented himself as a barber in Brooklyn, concealing his dark past from his family and those around him. Each narrative thread delves into themes of memory, guilt, identity, and the long shadows cast by personal and political traumas, revealing the complex interplay between victims and victimizers and the challenging path toward redemption.