PAVILION IN THE CLOUDS

It is 1938 and in the final days of the British Empire in a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon live the Ferguson family - Bella, a precocious eight year old and her father Henry, owner of Pitlochry, a tea plantation, and her mother Virginia. The story centres around the Pavilion in the Clouds, nestled in idyllic grounds carved out of the wilderness. But all is not as serene as it seems. Bella is suspicious of her governess Miss White's intentions and her intuition sparks off her mother's imagination. After an unfortunate series of events, a confrontation results in a gunshot ringing out through the valley. Years later Bella, now living back in Scotland at university in St Andrews, is faced once again with her past. Will she at last find out what happened between her Father and Miss White? And will the guilt she has lived with all these years be reconciled by a long over-due apology? '...This house would be shrouded with cool mist, like thin, attenuated rain, and in this way would be invisible from the plains far below.' A lyrical and enchanting tale. 224pp.