This is the first collection of Rosamude Pilcher's stories with their extraordinary blend of love, heartbreak and joy The settings range from the suburban a middle-aged mother confronting the empiness of her life and finding the key to a new contented fulfilment, to the exotic sun-drenched memories of the British Raj fifty years ago encompassing the snobbish rigidity of the time and how a social pariah came to bring one girl a precious and lasting gift