Defying his family's wishes, William falls for Margaret, a Catholic nurse, and is cast out for marrying her. Desperate to reclaim his mother's love, he joins the army, seeking the respect afforded to the American GIs stationed in Fermanagh. But war leaves him volatile, and his time as a POW scars him deeply. Tragedy strikes again and again: his wife succumbs to TB, and his beloved daughter drowns. Consumed by grief and paranoia, William makes a devastating choice, abandoning his daughter Trisha with his sister and fleeing to England with his son, George. Years later, George, burning for revenge, draws them both into the heart of the Troubles.