Maher evokes the unease of the coloniser's attempts to impart ideals and principles to a native population that does not welcome such offerings, however well-intentioned. Life, death, loss, recovery and trauma jostle for equal position across three towns - autumn, 1849, London; Dublin; and Aghadoe, Killarney. John Drew, a Protestant minister and scholar, is struggling in his Irish rectory to complete a translation of a six-line cuneiform text. His wife Eliza is visiting her sister in London. Neither have been able to come to terms with the death of their son.