In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, on the international currency exchange, the ?almighty dollar? plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency, the bancor. In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. The government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains to savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation.

The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable inheritance once their ninety-seven-year-old patriarch dies. When their birthright turns to ash, what begins as mere disappointment spirals into the challenge of sheer survival.

Avery is petulant that she can't buy olive oil, while her sister, Florence, is forced to take now-homeless family members into her cramped household. Their aunt Nollie, an expat author, returns from abroad at seventy-three to a country that's unrecognizable.

Nollie's brother, Carter, fumes at caring for their demented stepmother, now that an assisted living facility is unaffordable. Only Florence's oddball teenage son, Willing, an economics autodidact, will save this formerly august American family from the streets.