In the Garden of the Sin-Eater

By Elizabeth Paddock

On the coast of West Donegal in Ireland, Cillian O' Duinn is called to consume the sins and release the soul of a neighbor who died a violent death. The year is 1871, and Cillian -- who has been the region's sin-eater for more than thirty years -- is troubled when the dead man's brother gives him a handful of silver coins and asks what has led him to lead such a scorned and isolated life. As Cillian wanders back to his hut, he summons the buried and violent memories of the events that led him to his life as a sin-eater.

More than a hundred and fifty years later, Cillian's descendant Madeleine also carries the sorrows and burdens of people in her community, including her husband's grief. When Madeleine's husband Neville disappears in a mountain snowstorm, her daughters ask why she lives such a sad and forsaken life -- and why she married Neville in the first place. Like Cillian, Madeleine journeys to her long-buried past to recover the painful experiences that led her to life as a modern sin-eater, and to free herself of the guilt that chains her.