Anglo-Burmese flee Burma in 1942 over the mountains to Assam while the British Army retreats to India. Violet Nicholas and her relatives play different roles in this fact-based historical fiction about life under the Japanese, clandestine operations of the Chindits and Burmese tribal nations behind the Japanese lines and the battles bringing the British back into Burma from Assam. The story concludes with Aung San's assassination.