Set in the mid-20th century American South, the novel follows Ursa Corregidora, a blues singer recovering from a physical accident while carrying a family's intergenerational wounds.

Set in a recent historical past, the story focuses on a coal-merchant and shopkeeper whose ordinary routines are interrupted when he encounters evidence of suffering connected to a local institution.

An aging, small-time Boston criminal and informant navigates deals, betrayals, and legal pressure within the city's Irish-American underworld. The novel focuses on his day-to-day interactions, the negotiations between criminals and law enforcement, and the consequences of compromised loyalties.