In Marcel Proust in Taos, a Los Alamos physicist, Christopher, retires to Taos, New Mexico, with his cat Marcel Proust, to write a novel about nuclear terrorism. There he meets aspiring artist Marlene, from Germany, and the two fall in love. They open a microbrewery, using the brewing recipes passed down to Marlene from her brewmaster grandfather. However, together they find themselves confronting terrorism of a new sort with the matriarch of the Taos community, Agnes Havelock Powers, who strongly opposes having a brewery in town. Agnes is rich, powerful, and influential. She has the city authorities tucked in her purse next to her checkbook. Follow the exciting and charming love story of Marlene and Christopher in historical Taos, as they experience the challenges of confronting abusive power.