The book is an epic tale of the intertwining lives of the Larkins, catholic hill farmers from Ballyutogue in Donegal, the Macleods, protestant shipyard workers from Belfast and the Hubbles, representatives of three centuries of British aristocracy.
The story is based around the lives of a family dynasty, The Larkins, and particularly one Conor Larkin. It tells the story of Ireland from the Irish potato famine of the 1840s to the Easter Rising of 1916.
A sequel, Redemption completes many loose ends in the saga.