Ireland, 1847. The fields are black, the larder is empty, and the sky offers no mercy. Ten-year-old Cillian Ó Gráda is a boy carrying the weight of a man. When his mother collapses on the frozen road to Clifden, he is left with nothing but his father's oversized boots, his six-year-old sister Nóra's hand in his, and a whispered promise he isn't sure he can keep. The road to survival is twelve miles of mud and shadows, leading to a town where the living are indistinguishable from the dead. In Clifden, Cillian finds himself caught in a silent war for the souls of the starving. On one side stands a faith that demands everything; on the other, a salvation that comes with a devastating price. From a weary priest to a cynical boy living under a capsized boat, every voice Cillian hears offers a different version of the truth. But as the Great Famine tightens its grip and the fever begins to knock at the door, Cillian realizes that the greatest danger isn't the hunger in his belly, it's the choice he must make to keep his sister alive. In the darkest year of Irish history, one boy must discover if faith is a light to follow or a burden to cast aside.