Dublin. A city in flux, its population swelling, a place of great wealth and grinding poverty, a playground for the rich but also a violent and dangerous city. Here James Lovett, thirteen-year-old son of Lord Dunmain finds himself homeless and dispossessed on the streets. His boorish, drunken father must conceal his son's existence to collect a large inheritance. He announces James's death and even stages a funeral in the city's cathedral. But James is not dead. A spirited and resourceful boy, he is surviving by the skin of teeth. Can he survive against terrible odds? The adventure works its way to a thrilling climax in the forests of Pennsylvania, James' final confrontation with his family