There's a problem with Barrow, but it can be fixed. You just need to change the name to Birdseye. Birdseye-in-Furness . . . Miles Platting is pulled from the ruins of a shipwreck into a world in which no one will speak to him. The founder of Lingua Franca--a naming rights agency committed to renaming every UK town after a corporate sponsor--Miles recounts the story of his quest for linguistic supremacy to anyone who'll listen. Confined to his hospital bed in a deathly quiet ward, Miles seeks to find his colleagues and reunite with his true love. But in doing so, Miles must confront his deepest held convictions and consider, "what's in a name?" in a world where the spoken word has been replaced with silence.