Author:Paul Scott

It is the last, bitter days of World War II and the British Raj in India is crumbling. Ensconced in the Indian Hill Station of Pankot are the English wives, mothers, daughters and widows of the officers embroiled in the ongoing conflict. With their old beliefs and assumptions under increasingly virulent attack, all eyes are upon Captain Merrick and the British military to protect them in this troubled time. But Merrick, though outwardly a consummate professional, is brutal and corrupt, and not even his machinations can stop the change that is swiftly and inevitably approaching, change which is increasingly undermining the old myth of British invincibility...
A mighty literary experience
—— The TimesQuite simply, monumental
—— Washington Post'A warm, funny story of love, life and infidelity... great beachtime reading'
—— WomanShould come with a health warning. It's totally addictive . . . a real page turner
—— Sunday ExpressChatty and warmhearted, Keyes's talent is to tell it how it is
—— IndependentOur funniest living novelist
—— Daily TelegraphReaches a transcendental realm of its own. I couldn't even read it at times, because I was crying and choking with laughter
—— Daily ExpressSharpe is the funniest novelist currently writing ... I sat curled up with laughter
—— Time Out