Description

Marguerite Kelley's childhood home was dominated by the disappearance of her uncle who, according to some, 'vanished into thin air.' In November 1905, she is the first to hear about the discovery of a skeleton tucked under the eaves of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan. Suspecting the remains are that of her uncle who worked on its the construction, she hopes it will solve a mystery that has overshadowed her family for a quarter of a century.

Roisin Gallagher has had many names and nicknames. As a child, she was known as The Orphan Gallagher. She was married twice and took each of her husband's names and when her second husband disappeared, she was known as the Widow Kilbane. Although a wealthy woman with a unique story of her own, it was the disappearance of her husband that defined her. Ger Kilbane was akin to a myth, a man who reportedly 'fell off the face of the earth.'

Patrick Kilbane came to New York with aspirations as great as the ship on which he sailed. He and his brothers were fleeing more than poverty and oppression. Patrick was happy to leave his family's sordid history at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. In New York, Patrick found success as a businessman and Alderman in Five Points. When his daughter, Marguerite greets him with the news of the discovery of a skeleton in St. Patrick's Cathedral, he realizes that it is as impossible to flee from his family's past as it is for a man to 'vanish into thin air.'