Feeling his strength declining, Thordur, the old, feared and respected head of his family, invites his children to come back to the village ; he wants to set his affairs in order : their mother's inheritance and also the business of the family company "the work of his life" which has made him one of the most powerful men in this small Icelandic fishing community. The family gathering will not go off as everyone is expecting or hoping. The ghosts will surface.