-- Evie Fraser, paid companion to a crotchety spinster, seems destined for a lonely life. Out of the blue, Evie gets a marriage proposal by post. She's met the handsome Douglas Barrington just once – at his wedding – but has never forgotten him. Now widowed, Douglas offers her a new life on the lush and exotic island of Penang where he's a rubber planter. And Evie can't resist.But what are Barrington's motives in marrying Evie when he barely knows her, and why is he so hostile and moody?Evie soon finds herself pitched against Douglas on the one hand and the shallow, often spiteful world of the expatriate British on the other. Has she made the biggest mistake of her life?Flynn's tenth novel explores love, marriage, the impact of war and the challenges of displacement – this time in a tropical paradise as the threat of the Japanese empire looms closer.