Kate isafflicted with deafness as a child in China in the 1800s, where her Irish refugee father Samuel lives an apparently blameless life working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. After his death, his family discover a shocking fact.

As a young woman nowneeding to support herself,Kate has very limited options, and agrees to marry theclever but disturbingly odd Geoffrey, whose personal problems and disastrous choicescontinue to makefor a colourful, difficult and adventurous life.

He, Kate and their first child, faced with a business failure, race from China under siegeto settle in Japan, where, amongst other influential people, Geoffrey meets the exiled Sun Yat Sen.

Kate constantly faces dramatic changes:from a respectable middle-class Victorian Miss in Colonial Chefoo,life amongst professionals in the Japan of the Last Emperor; a train journey aloneacross Russia with four small children;and learning to cope as an impoverishedhousewife in war-torn England.In her humdrum old age, Kate is suddenly confronted by a lively skeleton from her father's past, and his secret relationship.

Based on a true story, this is a compelling tale of adventure, and of overcoming enormous odds. It tells ofKate's first love, her relationship with her family, her helps, and an unexpected visitor; andreveals her warmth and strength of character.

Delia Rowbothamretired from her second career as creative writing tutor and columnist for two local newspapers, in order to write this, her first full-length novel. She had long been inspired by the extraordinary lives of her maternal grandparents, and set about researching in Ireland, Japan and China, better to understand the background in which they existed.

Shelivesin rural Kent, supervised by two cats and visited whenever possible by her family,and has recently remarried.Sheisworking on a collection of short stories and poetry, whilst gathering material for her second novel.