 in the 1980s, is imprisoned for ecotage, but eventually cannot change anything.On top of that, he suffers the loss of his first wife when their daughter is only three and of his daughter when she is only 25.When the novel opens, Tierwater is a 75-year-old disillusioned ex-con living on the estate of a famous pop star in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, in California and looking after the latter's private menagerie.