When Winston receives a telegraph from his mother informing him of his father's imminent death, he reluctantly returns to Jamaica after 25 years of teaching history in the United States, having avoided contact with his family for all this period. The return makes memories of an abusive father, a betraying mother, a favored brother and a sister lost in an accident fresh and raw again. For his part, Winston has never considering how his relatives have regarded his silence, and mutual resentments cause a series of painful encounters. Told from the perspectives of both Winston and his estranged brother, Septimus, this powerful tale combines psychological realism and magical elements as, with the help of a much younger half-sister, they seek to heal their longstanding breach. Absorbing and poignant, the novel explores themes of forgiveness, transcendence, and human possibility.