This is a story of an ordinary English family which, partly because of the times in which they lived, but more probably because of the choices they made, became an extraordinary family. The characters are drawn from life, but much poetic license has been taken, the order of events and conversations are of necessity fictitious; but their stories are true. They are taken from the diaries, letters and recollections of those who experienced them. Dates and names have been changed to protect identity and privacy. It tells the story of the beautiful, gentle, Catherine Hamilton, whose romantic dreams saw her caught up in a loveless marriage to an English policeman in Ceylon; manipulated into a web of deceit and cruelty. Her beloved sister, Victoria, talented, ambitious and vivacious, became the darling of the West End in pre war London. It tells of the trials and tribulations of the two young English women in the 1920's. It tells of the heat, leopards, snakes, and the inherent dangers of the colony. Also of the men in their lives, and of the children, whose lives were so influenced by the choices of their parents.