Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel

'What are the lives of these people like? How are they the victims of other people, or of each other maybe? Has tragedy made them what they are?'

Nosy professional photographer Mrs Ivy Eckdorf visits O'Neill's Hotel in Dublin, after hearing rumours of the dark secrets which have led to its decline. Owned by deaf-and-dumb Mrs Sinnott - soon to be ninety-two - the hotel is home to a cast of oddballs and degenerates: drunken gambler Eugene who lives only in his dreams; the pimp Morrissey who hires rooms for his girls; O'Neill, the hall porter, trying to keep it all together.

But instead of finding out the truth about O'Neill's, Mrs Eckdorf instead discovers something deeper, darker and closer to home than she ever expected . . .

'A master craftsman and a deeply creative talent.' The Times