1939 - India
When headstrong Nadine Burton learns that the woman, she thought was her Indian Ayah was in fact her mother, she rebels against her father in a flamboyant display of disrespect and dares to dance with her two local best friends at a public party.
Her father, local official, Roland Frederick Burton is furious. He arranges for her to be exiled from India and married off to Australian Martin McPherson, owner of a rubber plantation north of Singapore.
Within a year Singapore falls to the Japanese. Martin is killed and Nadine becomes a prisoner of war, imprisoned in Sumatra, where her dancing skills don't go unnoticed by her captors.
Amidst the horror she finds a friend in a Japanese American major caught up in the war whilst visiting his grandparents in Japan.
Much like her, he straddles two cultures and worlds. As their love deepens, boundaries are crossed and together they must unite to survive.
Don't miss this emotional and powerful saga about a woman's determination to beat the odds, perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies and Fiona Valpy.
Previously published as 'East of India' by Erica Brown