Mary O'Grady, an Irish peasant woman, discovers that motherhood brings her sorrow as it does joy.

'Beautifully and insightfully captured the reality of rural Ireland, just as remote working renews village life' IRISH INDEPENDENT

'An impressive body of work' IRISH TIMES

'There's the immense power with which she depicts the inner lives of women' PARIS REVIEW

In the early 1900s, Mary O'Grady leaves behind the countryside and the family she cares for, to be with her husband in Dublin. Here she puts down new roots and looks forward to the day when she will return to Tullamore with her own sons and daughters. Marriage and motherhood sustain Mary, gradually the memories of her own childhood fade and her life revolves around the secure home she has created. But as her children grow, they seek the freedom of adults as she had done. Slowly Mary comes to realise that a mother's love cannot protect them, as it could not protect herself from the sorrows and tragedies of life.