This volume brings to a conclusion the first trilogy in the series, and deals with the slow decline of Peregrine's powers as he slides gradually into dementia. The clumsy ebbing away of such a powerful personality always leaves a hole. Not only do the monks of St Alcuin's have to care for their dying and distressed leader, but they also have to find the resources and wisdom to make the hundreds of decisions that now lie urgent yet neglected. How can the community re-form itself, and carry on, when their souls are distracted by grief and fear? At the same time the long crisis exposes the courage and character of individual monks. When their foundations are tested, who will fall, and who will stand?