Two friends. One city on the brink. A past that refuses to stay buried.
When Damon Finnegan and Robert Fletcher—lifelong friends and rugby-mad adventurers—arrive in Calcutta, they expect heat, colour, and carefree escape. Their base is Burnham Cottage, a colonial mansion owned by Damon’s enigmatic Uncle Fred, where the echoes of empire linger in every shadowed room.
Then they meet Flora.
Beautiful, guarded, and Anglo-Indian, Flora draws them into a world far darker than the holiday they imagined. When a brutal murder shocks the city, and a burglary at the cottage exposes documents linked to colonial corruption, Damon and Robert find themselves entangled in a dangerous web of secrets and lies.
Flora’s sudden return—with a child she claims as her son—sets off a devastating chain of events, ending in a fatal confrontation and a choice that will mark the two men forever.
London, 1939. War is looming, and the past will not stay silent. A single newspaper article resurrects the Calcutta scandal, triggering a police investigation—and forcing Damon to confront the consequences of what he and Robert did all those years ago.
As bombs fall and the world unravels, Damon encounters Flora again in a London bomb shelter.
This time, there is no escape.
Romantic historical fiction at its best. It will stay with you long after you have read the last page.
