Splintered by emigration, World War Two and long-kept secrets, the Prestons are a family grappling with the past and dislocation.

Belfast, 1941. Meg Preston’s seventeen-year-old nephew Robert Henderson is planning to enlist in the Royal Navy, both to escape his smothering parents and the dawning knowledge that he is gay. Meanwhile, Meg and her partner Lillian Watson escape the bombing of Belfast to the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland.

Years later, the post mid-century sectarian violence, known as The Troubles, erupts. Throughout their lives, members of the Preston family are split into strongly supporting one another, or barely holding together. Facing the misogynistic mores of their time, can they find the strength to reunite?

Enduring the stresses of intimate relationships and global catastrophes, but thriving due to the relief found in community both inside and outside of the family, the Prestons' story is one that resonates during our own, stressful times as well.

Constance Emmett

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