During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Ossian McGinn, a traumatised ex-soldier from the Korean war, retreats to a remote island and a monastic community off the Scottish coast to wrestle with God and his demons. Not far from the island is the American nuclear base of Holy Loch.
Written in the form of letters to Ossian's psychiatrically confined younger brother, his correspondences reveal a growing paranoia that is both personal and political. Ossian interweaves day-to-day life on the island with his musings on family, religion, and existence. Events on the island turn ever stranger as Ossian's thoughts become increasingly troubled.
A boy arrives and disappears. The brothers and sisters whisper in the corridors. A psychiatrist, who has problems of his own, comes to live amongst the faithful. His herbal brew gives rise to visions of a terrifying future that threaten to shatter Ossian's sense of reality.
Before Ossian can leave the island, he must confront his family trauma and come to terms with a new reality.