What can take the fire out of a fever, the ache out of loving, and the meanness out of a miser? The answer according to Tearlaich is whisky - the 'water of life'. And when he suggests to Lillian that the islanders should have their own blend - a 'Bruach Blend' - Lillian can see his logic. Add to this concoction of island life the regulars; Erchy, Hamish, and Morag, as well as Harry the hedgehog, pets, and pests - and cows in love - and you have a diverse and pleasurable glimpse of the way the islanders manage on the island of Bruach.