A penniless middle-aged spinster scrapes by giving piano lessons in the Dublin of the 1950s. She makes a sad last bid for love with a fellow resident of her rundown boarding house, who imagines she has the money to bankroll the business he hopes to open.

The story of Anne Devlin, who was caught up in the revolt of the Irish under Robert Emmett in 1803, told exclusively from the woman's point of view.