Centres on the relationship which took place between Rand and her philosophical protégé Nathaniel Branden between the early 1950s and the late 1960s.
Branden was approximately twenty-five years her junior, and both he and his wife Barbara were members of a coterie which revolved around her in what is now frequently seen as near cultish fashion. The Brandens were at the very centre of the circle and after several years of friendship Rand decided that the relationship between herself and Nathan should be a sexual one. Having convinced Nathan of this, they proceeded to tell no-one except their spouses, and embarked on an affair that involved several romantic meetings every week, fitted in around their philosophical activities. The disaster came about absolutely irrevocably years later when Rand tried to re-ignite her sexual relationship with Nathan. He revealed that not only was his marriage to Barbara over, but that he had fallen in love with another woman. Rand turned on him with absolute ferocity and had both the Brandens ultimately expunged from her circle.
The play begins with Barbara Branden’s reconciliation visit to Rand in 1981, and also finishes with it.