Pearl has grown up in a commune with several women and two men. She has no idea which ones are her real parents. When she gets her period for the first time it means she will be old enough to be chosen and bear a child with one of the two adult males. They worship Nature and depend on it to provide for them. When a new family arrives, Pearl grows close to the new boy, Ellis, who fills her with stories about the outside world and makes her question all she's been told.