Publisher's Synopsis
"The land of men is an untouched one. It is the companionship of quiet. It is so many
darkened boats, heading their own way, in the night."
Leeds, 2017. Disaffected journalist Fred Whitby and his mother visit Grandad Norman
following the death of his callous second wife, Brenda. Norman has relapsed into alcoholism.
Brenda's daughter and her husband have invaded the house.
Whilst writing a diary in attempt to revive his creativity, Fred finds himself cast adrift in his
family history, trying frantically to piece together the fragmented memories, half-truths,
secrets and mythologies that lie therein. Disappearances. Post-war protection rackets. An
IRA bomb plot. Romantic rivalries. The kidnap of a traitorous miner.
As spectres of the past
meet with the looming presence of a post-truth future, Fred must navigate the illogical and
unprovable stories of his grandfather and come to terms with the absence of irrecoverable
voices in his quest for whatever truth and meaning remains.
