The novel consists of a sequence of five novellas and features poems by Melissa Curran, attributed in the story to the character Danielle.

[1] The main character is Jonathan Ford, a failed writer who travels through Thirroul, Paris, Littlehampton, and Tasmania, reflecting on his difficult childhood before reuniting with his sisters.

He also forms a relationship with a woman named Donna and her sister Rachel; the three end the novel in tentative happiness at a vineyard in Tasmania, which Rachel inherits after another character, Tardieu, is the victim of parochial violence.

[2] In addition to the characters' many experiences of abuse and violence, the novel discusses the murder of James Bulger, which occurred three years prior to the novel's publication.

[1] In 1997, the novel was shortlisted for both the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.