Conamara in the West of Ireland has a strange and beautiful landscape - a landscape of intense contrasts uniquely dependent on light and shade. In daylight, a subtle radiance of gentle colours envelops the place. Yet on the threshold of darkness, the fading light reveals an almost haunted vista of mysterious beauty. In this exquisitely crafted collection of poetry, John O'Donohue evokes the vital energy and rhythm of the Conamara landscape, engaging with earth, sky and sea, and the majestic mountains that silently preside over this glorious region.

Here too, as he draws upon the ancient memory and history of this sacred place, he focuses upon the power of language and the vagaries of human need and passion, tenderly revealing the fragile vulnerability of love and friendship.