Life moves forward, but its meaning often emerges in hindsight. In this luminous collection, Dermot Bolger captures those unexpected moments when past loves and choices resurface with startling clarity. These stories explore ageing, memory, and the lingering imprint of first encounters - how joy, loss, and betrayal echo across decades. 

A man searches for a secret half-sister to understand his father. A woman is haunted by a boy’s death fifty years ago. A lighthouse keeper recalls his first love. A public figure, slipping into dementia, relives one fateful night. From childhood holidays shadowed by tragedy to chance reunions that rewrite old narratives, Bolger’s characters wrestle with Yeats’s 'rag and bone shop of the heart', revealing the fragile beauty of human connection.