Malcolm is an eighteen year old and lives with his family in India.He is invited to Thailand to join his grandfather in prospecting for oil and tin.While there he meets and falls in love with a lovely Thai girl named Chelam and the tale relates their marrige and adventures all over Asia until the out break of war in 1939.It goes on to tell of the breakdown of their marriage and the Japanese invasion of Singapore and Malcolm's wartime experiences until he is made a POW and what happens to himand his family