Aisling Selkirk is a young woman beset by unexplained blackouts, pseudo-seizures that have baffled both the doctors and her family. Sent to recuperate in the Suffolk countryside with ageing relatives, she seeks solace in the work of William Blake and writing her journal, filling its pages with her visions of Feodor, a fiery East Londoner haunted by his family’s history back in Russia. But her blackouts persist as she discovers a Tudor priest hole and papers from its disturbed former inhabitant Soon after she meets the enigmatic Chase, and is drawn to an unfamiliar town where the rule of Our Friend is absolute and those deemed unfit and undesirable disappear into The Quiet… When Aisling is initially introduced she appears to be quite delicate. Her mother, Beverley, is at her wits end. She has tried to be understanding but can’t connect with Aisling in any meaningful way. Aisling’s mother thinks the best thing for her daughter is to spend some time in the peace and quiet of the countryside allowing Beverley to settle down with her new beau. Aisling is left to her own devices, living in her great aunt’s crumbling estate. She grows determined to move on with her…