Dinah Jefferies was born in Malaysia and moved to England at the age of nine. Her idyllic childhood always held a special place in her imagination, and when she began writing novels in her 60s, she was able to return there - first in her fiction and then on annual research trips for each new novel. Dinah Jefferies is the author of novels, The Separation, The Tea Planter's Wife - a Number One Sunday Times bestseller, The Silk Merchant's Daughter, Before the Rains and The Missing Sister. She lives in Gloucestershire.

I was gripped, moved and utterly in thrall to this deeply emotional and compelling tale. Jefferies is truly a master of her craft. She writes so vividly I could feel the Rangoon grit under my finger nails and the humidity heavy on my skin. This powerful story explores the all-consuming impact of family and lifts the lid with an intimate sensitivity on how we deal with loss and betrayal in our lives. Belle and Diana are wonderful characters who leapt effortlessly into my life and whirled me through a helter-skelter of danger and suspicion that had me turning the pages late into the night. As always with a Dinah Jefferies book the research was meticulous. I loved it.

Dinah Jefferies was born in Malaysia and moved to England at the age of nine. Her idyllic childhood always held a special place in her imagination, and when she began writing novels in her 60s, she was able to return there - first in her fiction and then on annual research trips for each new novel. Dinah Jefferies is the author of novels, The Separation, The Tea Planter's Wife - a Number One Sunday Times bestseller, The Silk Merchant's Daughter, Before the Rains and The Missing Sister. She lives in Gloucestershire.

I was gripped, moved and utterly in thrall to this deeply emotional and compelling tale. Jefferies is truly a master of her craft. She writes so vividly I could feel the Rangoon grit under my finger nails and the humidity heavy on my skin. This powerful story explores the all-consuming impact of family and lifts the lid with an intimate sensitivity on how we deal with loss and betrayal in our lives. Belle and Diana are wonderful characters who leapt effortlessly into my life and whirled me through a helter-skelter of danger and suspicion that had me turning the pages late into the night. As always with a Dinah Jefferies book the research was meticulous. I loved it.