Departures is a sensitives, often moving, account of a young boy's Catholic childhood. From his boyish concept of a calling, be moves towards adulthood in a world that is itself changing. In a religious boarding school, run by Franciscans, the boy becomes the man who wrote this book, looking back with affection, but not uncritically, at a world that has much changed. This book depicts a poor but staunchly Catholic country family, resolute in its conservatism.