Carmel McMahon immigrated to New York when she was twenty with a suitcase of dreams and plenty of unseen baggage. Her time in the city was marked by both awakenings and struggle, most of it personal, including bereavement and a long battle with alcohol.

In a lyrical memoir she combines her personal and family story with that of the history of the country of her birth and how trauma can be passed down through the generations unless and until it is dealt with.