A family's memories of war, and the search for a family's past. Emulating the circuitous tales told by his mother's relatives, the Goodyears of Newfoundland, David MacFarlane weaves the major events of the island's twentieth century-the ravages of tuberculosis; the great seal-hunt disaster; the bitter Confederation debate, and above all, the First World War-into his own tale of the ill-starred fortunes of his family.