After her father’s death, Momo moves with her mother to an island in the Seto Inland Sea. She carries an unfinished letter he left behind, containing only its opening. Three unruly spirits in the attic disrupt her new life and complicate an already difficult attempt to settle in.
Momo’s last conversation with her father was an argument, so the missing words in the letter matter to her. Meanwhile, the spirits cause trouble that she tries to keep hidden from the island community. Private grief and the practical nuisance of unwanted housemates occupy the same new home.
The spirits have very different faces: a small round-eyed figure, a long face and a broad mouth with conspicuous teeth. Crowded under leaves together, they look like a group with its own practical problems. Their ungainly presence gives Momo’s new surroundings something to manage as well as something to fear.