Chanda’s mind is as soft as the alluvial soil that enriches the gardens surrounding the Uptown New Orleans estate where she has spent her entire life. When she wakes the morning after Hurricane Katrina, she finds the Old Woman, her sole provider, has died. Forced to leave her paradise, and wander the storm-ravaged city of New Orleans, Chanda finds herself everywhere from the hip-deep toxic waters of Central City’s slums to the refuge of a gated French Quarter apartment, associating with people who occupy New Orleans during the storm’s aftermath: the struggling black underclass, the media hordes, and impromptu militias. Amid the anarchy, Chanda’s slow witted ways are often mistaken for genius.