Ireland, 1846. A boy on a life-changing journey which lives in the mind long after the final page.

It is 1846, the height of the Great Hunger, and young Fergus is forced to grow up fast. Following the destruction of his home, he loses not only his family but everything he has ever loved.

So begins an epic journey from innocence to experience that takes him from the west coast of Ireland to the docks and bordellos of Liverpool, and across the Atlantic. Along his journey he will meet bandit chiefs and railway navvies, 'pearl boys' and daring girls, and the willful Molly, who will teach him the ways of the world.