Compelling fast paced continuing historical saga! Story opens up in Paris hospital, 1918, at the end of WWI. Two recovering soldiers lie in beds next to each other, one Irish, one British. They are going home. But they will never be the same again. Katherine O'Keefe Drake, now in Scotland, awaits the return of her husband, the war haunted Englishman. While Katherine from County Mayo, Ireland, a woman who left her Nationalist parents, inheritance, and country to run away and marry a British soldier, is torn with hidden secrets. One is a child in an orphanage, the other, a very close relationship with a mystical, poetry loving priest. All of this occurring while her husband, a man obsessed with honor, Sergeant George Drake, was away at war. Concurrently, James McKeon, a coal miner in Scotland, a complex, angry brooding character, thinks often about the young English soldier who saved his life in British occupied India in 1899. There are many problems within guilt laden James from the past. He also ponders about his difficult relationship with his wife. Eventually abandoned by his wife and his large family, when they emigrate and journey into New York City. Left in his solitude, James makes attempts to find the soldier who saved him, which is Katherine's husband. Hampered by a lack of important information in his search, he becomes frustrated, depressed. There are twists and turns here, a maelstrom of emotions in this richly woven tale! Personal conflicts arise as events and history are changing rapidly as the story moves back to Katherine's country, Ireland, her family, legal proceedings, and a court case in London. Most significantly, the Irish fight for freedom from seven centuries of British rule. Politics and espionage play intricately major roles as well as the riveting, vividly portrayed brutality. Betrayal looms ahead! Figures rise to heroic proportions! The Anglo-Irish Treaty is ultimately turned into a "won" or "lost" settlement, depending on perspective. Rebellion starts again; Irish Civil War breaks out. Illuminating mirror of a country eviscerated! Families, brothers, split apart. Although tragedies jump off these pages, romance, passionate love making, lust, greed, and delightful humorous scenes also dwell here. There are sheer magical moments in these ordinary little lives! Imperfections, ironies, and human foibles appear as life goes on, even in time of war. Rough men and earthy women travel through this novel! Rebels and revolutionaries. Ultimately, we witness the Irish and Scots who become immigrants in the USA and Canada. Crossing the wide Atlantic Ocean. Hardships and joy await them during mid 1920's to 1930's. Their travails and triumphs! Stories within stories. Author probes the heart, the human condition.