Plumes of flame pierced the night sky, curling and licking and caressing the hurrying clouds, and there was nothing anyone could do except watch the crop burn ...In 1952, war widow Irene Sandie takes up work in New Zealand's tobacco fields, hoping to build a new life for herself and her daughter. But this bold act of female self-sufficiency triggers a sequence of events whose repercussions are still felt long after lrene's death. Against a backdrop of immense social and political change, lrene's four children lead disparate lives, and learn how far family ties can bind - or be lost forever.With unflinching honesty and characteristic compassion, FionaKidman deftly exposes the fragility of even the closest human relationships, as she weaves together the narratives of a family and its changing fortunes across fifty years and three generations.