Most days Cal sits at home on his bed, smoking or playing his guitar and trying not to think about Crilly and Skeffington, who want his help for the cause or the threatening notes which are posted through the door by Loyalists. Some days he goes to the library for tapes. It is there that he first sees Marcella. When he finds out who she is, he becomes obsessed with her.

How would she react if she knew who he really was? Can he ever make it up to her? For the only Catholic family on a Protestant estate in Northern Ireland, there's no chance of peace. The only real question is: what sort of violent climax will it be when it comes?