In 1927, they drowned the River Noire in the Province of Quebec by building a dam. To do so, the government expropriated land, forcing the farmers in the valley to higher ground. The same year, Irish republicans ambushed Michael Collins on a country road in County Cork, Ireland, and shot him dead. This story carries the rumor of his assassination across the Atlantic to the Irish community in Canada, bringing with it the seeds of violence and rebellion. In this suspenseful fiction, Quebec has realized its republican dreams, but has lost territory as America becomes greater still.