In a wild gully beside a village on the rocky shores of Newfoundland lives fourteen-year-old Kit. Her grandmother Lizzie is her anchor and her solace. Kit's mother Josie, mentally disabled, inarticulate and child-like, is their burden. Kit's father is unknown - one of the numerous men in the town who have used and abused Josie. Kit, stigmatised as the Gully Tramp's Girl, can fend off the town's cruel snobs and oily do-gooders, as long as Lizzie is alive.
But when Lizzie dies suddenly, Kit's fragile world is shaken. She is determined to remain at home to care for Josie, but she has few allies - the villagers want to put Josie in an institution and send Kit to an orphanage. And there is another menace in Haire's Hollow: the violent rapist and killer known as Shine. It is he who sets in motion the train of events that lead to tragedy.
