When Rosie trethewey - disillusioned doctor turned market researcher - unexpectedly inherits a shack on the remote northern tip of Great Barrier Island, she decides it is time to begin a new life. Arriving at her new home, Rosie finds she has two neighbours sharing the wilderness. One is Red O'Hara, a refugee from horrific wartime experiences on the Burma Railway. the other Angus Mcleod, a retired policeman who's abandoned a society he sees as soft and contemptible. Rosie's sudden appearance panics Red and Angus. they both fear she'll disrupt their ordered lives. And they're right. In this inspiring novel of survival, love and conflict, three loners are forced to come to terms with themselves, each other and the encroaching world.