Rural West Cork, Ireland. Two Kids, Joseph and Paul, and their struggling, poet father, Fraser, are battling grief and poverty. When a letter arrives with a summons to Dublin and the promise of publication, it offers a chink of light - the hope of rescue. But Dublin is a long, wet and hungry way from West Cork in the mid-70s, especially when they have no money - just the clothes they stand up in and an old, battered suitcase.

So begins an almost anti-roadtrip of flipsides and contradictions - dreams and nightmares, promises and disappointments, generosity and meanness, unconditional love and shocking neglect.

In simple, beautiful, lyrical prose, James Yorkston's new novel takes us on that trip, as seen through the eyes of a brave and resourceful but poor and frightened child. It tells of the emptying, paralysing pain of grief and loss, tempered only by the hope of rescue and the redemption of parental love. It also tells of Fraser's love for his children's dead mother, as hidden within the battered suitcase is Fraser's heart-breaking collection of poems - The Book of the Gaels.

James Yorkston is a singer-songwriter and author from the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Since signing to Domino Records in 2001, James has released a steady flow of highly acclaimed, multi-instrument, acoustic based albums. James' 2021 album 'The Wide, Wide River' was called 'Another fascinating, curious contribution to the Scottish musician's constantly eddying catalogue' by The Guardian, 'A beautiful experience' by Clash and 'Another career highlight' by The Scotsman. In 2014 Yorkston began playing with with Yorkston / Thorne / Khan, a trio embracing jazz, traditional folk, krautrock, the poetry of Ivor Cutler and Indian classical music.

In his varied career, James has toured Europe, North America and India and appeared at countless festivals, both musical and literary. In 2011 James' debut book It's Lovely to be Here - The Touring Diaries of a Scottish Gent was published to great response by The Domino Press / Faber, and in 2016 Freight Press published James' first novel 3 Craws, which has gone on to be studied in schools and colleges in the UK and America. James also runs the music and poetry night 'Tae Sup wi' a Fifer', and co-hosts the podcast 46-30, dedicated to 'Quality Music of No Fixed Abode'.