Clara Sears tells the story of the Fruitlands experiment which occurred in 1843 when Bronson Alcott,Charles Lane and their families attempted a new society. It was a vegan society that strove to use innate intelligence to establish a high minded community of people. Abolitionists, there was no use of cotton. No leather or wool clothing because that would be taking something that belonged to the animal. They practiced Sylvester Graham's diet proposals, hydrotherapy, and other new ideas of the times.
Although the Alcott's and Lane spend just seven months at Fruitlands, Sears is able to tell a story that gives insight into the transcendentalist movement and this period of time.