Kathie Nelson is a poet, born during the sixties, and raised during the seventies-two time periods where it looked like the world was finally getting itself together, and that there would be equality for all. But as she looks around her world today, she finds that this simply isn't true. These are just some of the reasons why she felt compelled to write The Newcomer, a story where a plague hits the Earth, making it necessary for women to take over in order to save the planet. The book deals with how the women cope with the deadly disease, how they keep their men safe, and how they transform the world in order to sustain a better life. Then it advances into the future, where the society that arises and the religion that governs it are again questioned. How that question finally gets answered is found with The Newcomer."