Publisher's Synopsis
From her bed in a nursing home, Harriet Campbell reflects on the time, long ago, when the second greatest joy in her life was her newborn son, James; only her God had a greater claim to her love. It is the 1920s, in the shadowlands south of the Irish border. Harriet and her husband, Thomas, a cold and sober man who is almost twice her age, are respected members of their strict Presbyterian congregation; indeed, Thomas has just been made an elder. But this is a changing Ireland, where the sway of the Roman Catholic Church is at its height, and the community is becoming increasingly isolated. Little does Harriet realize that, as James grows up, she will be forced to choose between faith and family.
