Louise sets out to India with her two daughters to stay with her estranged husband. They arrive at his farm in the vast and unstable plains of East Bengal and almost immediately the fragile relationships between the four family members start to break down. There are fierce tensions between Louise and her husband Charles which are echoed in the cracks and holes in the fabric of the house, and between Louise and Emily, her eldest daughter. These strains erupt into outright war after the death of Emily's beloved spaniel Don, a gift from her father, at the hands of her mother. This is an intense and passionate novel about growing up in India. 'Compassionate wisdom and serene understanding . . . with each book she writes Miss Godden's position as one of the finest of living English novelists becomes more secure' Orville Prescott 'One of our best and most captivating novelists' Philip Hensher