Parallel tales of the struggle between the sexes down the ages run through the story of an immortal talking fish from the Stone Age whose insidious counsel to men led to the overthrow of the matriarchy and the rise of the patriarchy.

Based loosely on Grimm's "The Fisherman and His Wife," this triumphant blend of folk tale and contemporary story takes place over the course of nine months, during which the wife of the narrator becomes pregnant and is regaled with tales of the various cooks the fisherman has met throughout his life. The emerging themes of the novel expose the periods when men made history and women's contributions went largely, in some cases gravely, unrecognized.