Insouciance may be Bagberd's watchword, but he's never been quite sure how to pronounce it. His carefree if unfulfilling life in the suburbs, turned upside-down after an freak accident leads to highly unexpected consequences, forces him to reevaluate that particular word choice. Carried on a tide of circumstance through the improbably intersecting worlds of arty criminals and religious zealots by forces he can neither comprehend nor resist, Bagberd is eventually forced to discover something he never even knew he lacked: a soul. But some stones may be better left unturned.