Passages of Rebellion is a work of historical and political fiction that takes place, for the most part, in Minneapolis during the years, 1967-1970. The focus is on the anti-war and anti-draft activities of the protagonist, Frank Goodman. Moving back and forth in time, the novel follows Goodman in his interactions with his fellow draft resisters and his engagement with a variety of other characters - Mary Browne, his wife and fellow grad student in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, and a mysterious member of a group responsible for the bombing of the Army Math Center at the University of Wisconsin in late August of 1970.

The novel also flashes forward in time to highlight the radical feminism of Ruth Browne, Mary's daughter, as she moves from her life in Michigan as the director of a Woman's Shelter to graduate school at the University of Toronto. A confrontation between Ruth and Frank at his bookstore in Toronto, The Rebel, leads to a surprising revelation and resonances to present-day Minneapolis.

Using a variety of passages from the works of Albert Camus, James Baldwin, and Andrea Dworkin, among others, the novel explores questions of violence, from the international to the domestic sphere. Threaded throughout the text are other philosophical and literary references, including to Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. In effect, Passages of Rebellion investigates the meanings of rebellion found not only in numerous political, philosophical, and literary writings, but also in the very acts of resistance undertaken by the characters in the novel.