The Good Terrorist is written in third person from the point of view of Alice , an unemployed politics and economics graduate in her mid @-@ thirties who drift from commune to commune . She consider herself a revolutionary , fighting against " fascist imperialism " , but is still dependent on her parents , whom she treat with contempt . In the early @-@ 1980s , Alice join a squat of like @-@ minded " comrades " in a derelict house in London . Accompanying her is Jasper , a graduate she took in at a student commune she lived in fifteen years previously . Jasper became dependent on Alice and followed her from squat to squat . Alice fell in love with him , only to become frustrated later by his aloofness and bourgeoning homosexuality . Other members of the squat include Bert , their ineffective leader , and a lesbian couple , the maternal Roberta , and Faye , her unstable and fragile partner .