Set against a backdrop of public scandal and private dilemma, Mirrors on which dust has fallen presents the quotidian concerns of the average and the not-so-average inhabitants of the fictitious Bowmount, the province featured in Bursey's precursor Verbatim: A Novel. The varied cast of characters examine and defend their spiritual beliefs, from God to evolution; their views on art, as painting battles photography for supremacy; and their sexuality, from confusion to pagan flagrancy. While Verbatim depicts the politics of the elected, Mirrors on which dust has fallen reveals the motives of the electorate, using pitch-perfect dialogue interjected with sly media snippets and elegant, subtle prose, to paint a darkly humorous and deeply telling tale of the late twentieth century in Canada.