Set in India, this is the story of a personal mission by Stephen to discover the reason his family left the country in 1951. Was it fear, betrayal, homesickness, or some other cause that forced a move from what had always been his home? It occurred only a few years after the appallingly handled India/Pakistan Partition in 1947, which led to so much violence and death. Was this a factor? Stephen was just nine years old at the time, his younger brother still also a child, and his parents are now dead. He feels a curtain of secrecy veils the real reason for the abrupt return to their homeland of England and is eager to reveal the truth. A visit to his old home seems the only answer.

He returns to the hill station where he grew up, searching for residents who may know what caused the decision, abrupt and without warning or explanation, to be made.

The story is told through often revealing, sometimes deliberately obscure, and occasionally startling conversations with people who lived in the village at the time. He forges friendships with some, discovers others are enemies for reasons unexplained, and encounters cultural differences that influence his ideas and thoughts and even his behaviour relating to how he conducts the search.

Does he discover why the family left so unexpectedly as he remembers? You’ll have to read the book to discover the answer.
 
The story reveals both personal and regional histories long forgotten or even deliberately buried. He meets many people of different character, sometimes of different race, often with their own agenda. Some of these are archetypes, some are simply themselves, but none are stereotypical. All are believable, especially when their history is revealed to explain their actions, many of those surprising.
 
This is a good read and presents the reader with a well told story revealing much about history, personality, and prejudice both conscious and unintended.