Willie Ryan returns to his home town in 'the great central plain of Ireland' after escaping from the asylum where he was committed, and unvisited, by his devout Catholic family for twenty-five years. The pretext for his incarceration was an attack on his sister-in-law; the real reason, an affair with a hedonistic young man who introduced him to art, literature and music.

In this exposé of the 'petty bourgeois snobbishness, hypocrisies and pretensions' of the 'little grocer's republic' of 1950s Ireland, nothing evil happens as long as it is not seen. Through Willie's piercing vision, we see the truth of his brother Michael's grief and remorse, his nephew Chris's fear of freedom, and the perceptiveness of asylum nurse Halloran. As Willie prepares for death, he agrees to a private family Mass, setting the stage for a confrontation with Father Mannix, one of those complicit in putting him away.