The story opens in 1919 in New York City with Michael, an Irish immigrant and veteran of the First World War. Michael, who has studied pre-med, is haunted by his experiences as a medic and ambulance driver on the battlefield. Now he works as a masseur in a bathhouse where he resorts to prostitution to satisfy his forbidden desires. He is the sole support of his unsuspecting and devout sister and her children.
When his uncle blackmails him into taking a job as a gardener at ...more