Following the death of her mother, a young woman embarks on a search for the estranged father she has never known. Tracey, a streetwise twenty-two-year-old, navigates the transition from her urban life to the unfamiliar landscape of rural Ireland. Her objective is to locate Eoin MacSweeney, a traveling fiddle-player whose identity remains the only link to her heritage. The narrative follows her physical movement across borders and her internal struggle to reconcile her mother's secrets with the reality of her father's existence.

This work is characterized by its grounded approach to the search for identity within the Irish diaspora. The narrative structure emphasizes the stark contrast between the protagonist's hardened exterior and the lyrical, traditional world of her father. Readers often note the author's ability to balance the harsh realities of urban life with the atmospheric, musical heritage of rural Ireland. The story functions as an examination of how inherited traits and family secrets shape an individual's sense of self.