Lesser breeds without the law

1947. Christian, Carla and their children leave war, rationing, winter and Britain for a new life in Kenya. At first they prosper and are happy in this vivid Eden, living a life of landed gentry complete with smiling servants.

But terror and brutality come to paradise and they start to question the basis of their privileged white lives.

When the colonial authorities blackmail Christian into a position where the survival of three men depends on his skills he is finally jolted into emotional engagement with the wider world. The family face ruin but know that their problems are trivial beside the fate of the three men intruding into their cosy domesticity.

As they confront barbarity not all is grim necessity; their lives are touched by unexpected humour, sometimes tender, sometimes dark. Through layered reminiscence and yearning the family comes to terms with two decades of turbulent change.