A superb and perceptive novel of two very different families set in Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century from the author of the acclaimed The Walled Garden.Three sisters, Hannah, May and Eleanor, know nothing but a comfortable, middle-class life in Dublin until the sound of arguing is heard one evening and their father disappears. From then on there are changes: the children are taken to Belfast to live with their grandfather where they discover their own individualitytheir love towards one another binds them together, but a new self-awareness comes to the fore.In another part of the country, two other sisters find their world changing: Maria and Cecilia are born into a working-class Belfast family, one soon torn apart by poverty and disease. When they find themselves alone, they have to decide whether to accept the lot that was their parents, or to move on and discover a new life elsewhere.