A young couple, William and Margaret Burkhardt, arrive at an unorthodox cancer "colony" in Baja California desperately seeking a cure for their daughter Robin's illness. They've defied their child's doctors and angered U.S. legal authorities by placing her in the care of the charismatic ex-patriate Joseph Smith. Encouraging them to leave their old lives behind, Smith systematically breaks apart the fragile bonds already frayed by illness and anger. Smith is a seeker too, but his need is to forge a new family-with himself at its center. Adding to the tension is Ruth Selfman, a publicist with a personal obsession about cancer "charlatans," who is determined to bring down the law on Smith for alleged kidnapping. Blood of the Grape is a novel about borders, both physical and psychic, and what happens to those who are compelled to cross them.