Linden Peach highlights the secrecy which "has been such a feature of Irish cultural life", and which is portrayed in this work with great poignancy. Deane is concerned with "the impact of concealment" particularly on "the mother figure upon which this burden is most spectacularly visited... Deane's novel seems all the more terrible for being located in an apparently ordinary domestic setting". Peach also discusses the way in which Deane's novel incorporates religious symbolism - not only in the way the characters lead their lives, but also in the similarities between Biblical events such as Christ's betrayal and burial and the betrayal and entombment of Uncle Eddie at the Fort. (p. 50).