Maybe you've read about viruses that turn people into zombies. But how about a virus that turns people into madmen, some of whom become creative geniuses? Spurred by her husband’s infidelity, a suburban housewife smuggles herself into a wilderness quarantine to catch the new disease. She’s hoping to redeem her empty life by writing a great book . . . and maybe, just maybe, find love with the man called the Saint of Gilford Island. She’d once spent a memorable, though chaste, night with him. Surely he’ll help her. But a lifetime’s exile on an island of madmen -- pirates, a suicidal Indian boy, a licentious cult leader who kidnaps her, an arrogant Cambridge scientist, all of them periodically insane then sane and back again -- is crueler than any suburban daydream. To survive, she’ll need to adapt. Adapt how, though? Even if she wins the saint’s love, nothing in her life -- or anyone’s life, ever – could possibly prepare her for the unpredictable society these creative madmen have built.