For nearly four hundred years, Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, Canada, has been the home of European fishermen. In the late twentieth century, when this story is set, it is populated mainly by Irish Catholics.

The Roman Catholic Church is the mainstay of the community, and when a young, recently ordained Irish priest shows up to administer to the Bay Bulls flock, they believe they have hit the jackpot. Father Patrick O'Malley is smart and charming, energetic and sympathetic. But neither the Church nor Bay Bulls are as innocent as they seem. Secrets abound, and they lead to tragedy.