Malaya 1951, Christopher Milnar falls passionately in love with Chinese nurse Evangeline in a jungle resettlement camp - an affair that ends in tragedy when, under attack from Communist guerrillas, Christopher is betrayed, beaten and left for dead. Half a century later the ghosts of that time return to haunt Christopher, triggering vivid memories of colonial misconduct and lost love. Forced to confront his disastrous past, Christopher agonises over the fate of Evangeline, and the disappearance of his teenage daughter Frances in Kuala Lumpur 1969 - a mystery until his grandson Adam embarks on a quest to piece together the fragments of a family torn apart.