Solar Bones

The novel's plot revolves around Marcus Conway, a deceased middle-aged engineer who has returned on All Souls' Day, and is reminiscing about his past life's events while sitting at his kitchen table.

The novel primarily deals with the themes of order and chaos, love and subsequent loss, and the ability of minor decisions to ripple and inevitably create large outcomes.

The novel also comments on "contemporary Irish masculinity" as it discusses the various roles one faces as a husband, father, son, brother, colleague, and neighbor.

[6] On All Souls Day, the Angelus bell sets off a series of reminiscences in Marcus Conway, a middle-aged engineer sitting at the kitchen table awaiting the return of his wife.

He remembers in his childhood a politician who will later become successful calling to his parents house and his father outlining his prediction for the coming election, which turns out to be very accurate.