Bina, a plain-spoken older Irishwoman, we gradually learn, is under police surveillance for a crime considered so unspeakable that she will not refer to it directly upon threat of immediate arrest. While Bina hints at the events that led to her great crime, we piece together the poignant truth: at the heart of this book is a deliberate act of merciful euthanasia that brings with it an awful burden, one that an anguished Bina cannot bear to face.