Combining elements of historical and supernatural fiction and drawing on a range of writing styles, the author describes it as a work of "genetic mythology".

[2] The colophon states that the book is based on a true story; it concerns a large collection of characters: some mythical, some fictional, and some historical.

Along with his family's oral traditions, life experience,[3] and ideas (such as eternalism) that he had explored in other writings,[3] Moore's research sources included a collection of interviews entitled “In Living Memory — Life in ‘The Boroughs,’” published by the Northampton Arts Development in 1987,[4] as well as old Kelly's directories.

[3] A key narrative arc culminates in 2006 with an exhibit of paintings by one of the characters, Alma Warren, who is indicated by the author portrait and its caption, present on the book's jacket, to be a stand-in for Moore.

[1] Prominent themes include "poverty, wealth, history, the evolution of English as a visionary language"[9] as well as "madness, ghosts, and the confusion of dreams, visions, memories, and premonitions.