Tired of life in suburbia, Cassie Atwood yearns to move her young family to rural New Hampshire. She finds an old house on sixty acres in the outskirts of Coggerton. As her husband Michael settles into his new job in Bourne, Cassie, eager to immerse herself in small-town life, gets acquainted with her neighbors, attends her first town meeting, works to restore the old house, plants a garden, and revels in the beauty of their land, happy that her son, Andy, is reaping the benefits of clean air, proximity to nature, and simple country values. But as the months go by, Cassie becomes disenchanted. Her dreams unravel and her marriage to an unsympathetic Michael frays, as she gradually learns what the state's motto, "Live Free or Die," means to the residents of Coggerton: if you don't like the way we live, go back where you came from. And the worst is yet to come.