1972 Uganda. Freya, naïve and newly married, arrives from England, anxious to settle into expatriate life at an agricultural project with her husband, Roger. When the house servant, Keziah, becomes pregnant, Freya suspects Roger may be the father. Her struggle to come to terms with this, and the eventual birth of the baby, leads her into relationships with Satish, the Asian director of a charity where she takes a job, and with Wensley, a visiting West Indian cricketer.

Increasingly at odds with Roger and the narrow world of the expatriate community, Freya's struggle is set against a backdrop of violence and political turmoil, which culminates in Idi Amin's expulsion of the Asian community. The upheaval forces a life-change dilemma upon Freya. Her story explores a young woman's coming of age intellectually, emotionally and sexually. It confronts what is it to be threatened with expulsion from home, and asks where people really belong.