"Dr Nancy Taylor has taken a job as a lone conservation scientist on a tiny desert island which is protected from any other humans by law. She objects when Gareth Marr lands his plane near her precious coral beds, though she accepts that it is partly her fault that he has had to touch down there. She just wants him to go away, so that she can retain her isolation from the world - which reminds her of the terrible mistake she made that caused the death of her own child."--Publisher description.