The story follows a young queer person, Josh Henneha, coming of age in the Muscogee Creek Nation in Eufaula, Oklahoma.

Josh’s self-understanding is pulled between listening to his Christian parents or the stories of his elder Creek family members, such as his great-aunt Lucille Self.

[3][1] With the help of his Aunt Lucy’s passionate storytelling, Josh is able to fly through time and dive deeper into the history of his Creek roots.

[1] Mark Rifkin argues that Drowning in Fire explores how a representation of queer experiences can highlight colonial impacts on the identity and expression of Muscogee people.

[4] Rifkin states that the use of sexuality in the novel illuminates how "compulsory heterosexuality helps naturalize the foreclosure of forms of collective identity not sanctioned by U.S. Indian law and policy".

[4] Rifkin also posits that the novel uses themes of homoeroticism regarding Creek people to emphasize how the legacy of allotment and the Dawes Act aligns with straightness.

[1] Rifkin suggests that the shame associated with homosexuality present in Josh's internal monologue "is an imperial inheritance that both enacts and effaces the broader assault on Creek peoplehood.