First published 2026
Tomás works on the great Ordnance Survey project, creating maps of Ireland in 1865. The country still bears scars from the Great Hunger that ravaged and emptied the land. On a windswept peninsula jutting into the Atlantic, Tomás labors alongside his reluctant ten-year-old son Liam. British soldiers will arrive soon expecting completed maps, but Tomás wants his work to document the disaster that befell Ireland. Everything changes when Tomás encounters something disturbing in a wooded grove. The experience cracks open the taciturn man, terrifying young Liam who has never seen his father this way. Now Liam must find the courage to complete the mapping work and somehow get them both home safely. The land holds buried treasure and ancient secrets. Ghosts refuse to stay buried. A loyal dog stands by the family through their ordeal. O'Farrell weaves together overlapping lives across time, showing how both land and history preserve their memories forever.
Genres: irish-literature, historical-fiction, mystery, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, ghosts
Setting: Ireland, Atlantic Ocean
Period: 1865
384 pages · Hardcover · Knopf