"In a small seaside Irish town in the late 1950s, two very different children are growing up, shouting their hearts desires into the echo cave, praying that their destiny will lead them far from Castlebay, a place empty and gloomy in winter but bustling with visitors in the gaudy days of summer. One of the children is Clare, shopkeeper Tom O'Brien's younger daughter. She wins a scholarship to University College, Dublin, and seems set for academic glory. The other is David Power, the doctor's son. He dreams of escape, also via Dublin, as a medic. But the path of these two children cross again in a quite unexpected way. Castlebay will draw them back in this drama of ambition, betrayal, before love finally reaches it turbulent conclusion"--Library of Congress summary.