Kenya 1957. During their childhood years in the Kenya Highlands three girls from vastly different backgrounds becomes blood sisters, promising that nothing will ever destroy the bond between them. But the legacy of the Mau Mau rebellion and the tensions and upheavals of newly independent Kenya tear their childhood dreams apart. Separated by distance and by family obligation, the three young women are thrown into a larger world of conflicting interests. Camilla Broughton-Smith becomes a famous model in 1960s London. Sarah Mackay is sent to university in her native Ireland, an alien experience which only strengthens her resolve to return to Africa. Hannah van der Beer's family struggles to retain the farm established by her Afrikaans forebears at the turn of the century. Time and again their bond is almost destroyed. Their friendship becomes a backdrop for competing love and broken promises. Political unrest brings violence, and savage murder darkens their loves. is the story of painful transition, from the innocent ideals of childhood to the demands of reality, amid the cataclysmic events of the African continent.