A ritualistic act performed by three Cambridge students on a sweltering night in May initiates a lifelong entanglement with the occult and the weight of their own pasts. The narrative follows Lucas, Pam, and Yaxley as they attempt to manifest a transcendent reality, only to find their lives fractured by the consequences of their youthful ambition. As they age, the characters navigate the physical landscapes of England and Eastern Europe, while the narrative structure shifts between their shared history and the haunting, surreal echoes of their ritual. They are opposed by the erosion of memory, the instability of their own desires, and the encroaching influence of a world that refuses to remain mundane.

This work is frequently noted for its dense, challenging prose and its refusal to provide easy answers regarding the nature of its supernatural elements. Readers often highlight the author's ability to create a sense of profound unease through the juxtaposition of mundane academic life and ritualistic obsession. The novel is characterized by its bleak, uncompromising look at how youthful idealism can curdle into lifelong regret and spiritual isolation. It remains a significant example of how genre boundaries can be pushed to explore the darker corners of human consciousness and historical memory.