London has flooded. Britain is tropical. And people photosynthesize. In a semi-tropical London, surrounded by paddyfields, the people photosynthesize. The Consensus, a vast DNA unit, controls the country. Children are raised in Child Gardens and educated by virus. Viruses control their behaviour; nonconformism is treated by the Consensus. Information, culture, law and politics are now biological functions. This is the story of Lucy, the immortal tumor, Joseph the Postman, whose mind is an information storehouse for others, and Milena, an incredible musician who has a secret, lost even to herself. She is resistant to viruses. It makes her aliented in an enclosing world. It will make her one of the most extraordinary women of her age. The secret is lost in memory. It is hidden somewhere -- in the Child Garden.