The setting of this book is mainly in England,the sixties England and Assam,India. Miranda a girl from the suburbs of North london falls in love with Derek,a planter from Assam. He was the son of a rich family with a dark and an unpenetrable past which wads a very closely guarded secret. The only person besides the family who had access to that information was Radhu,the old retainer who had been in the family for years. Miranda could not understand why was it that Derek was so reluctant to commit himself to any sort of lasting relationship. What was this secret?What stopped him from committing himself? Iy was on a cold winter's evening in london when the mysterious past of Derek Chowdhury unfolds.