"at once a gripbing story and a mirror for self-reflection". -Eric Lax, author of Faith, Interrupted.
Believing she is destined for life as a missionary, Ada, daughter of a Norfolk undertaker, sets off in 1927 to help the tribespeople of Upper Burma find their way to heaven.
Curious and imaginative, she finds herself striving to understand how the world makes sense to them. She begins to wonder if her sense of calling was really an escape from a life limited by caring for her beloved, but helpless, sister.
Receiving tragic news of her family, she abandons her vocation and her new husband and takes a ship home. Burdened with grief and guilt, she gives up the child born of her brief marriage.
As Ada endeavours to recover a sense of purpose in her life, the glimpse she has had of a spirit-filled jungle helps carry her forward. When Ada's daughter, full of anger, seeks her out, the encounter leads to new possibilities for both of them.
