"In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese, with terrible consequences for both of them and for members of their fragile community, who will betray one another in the darkest days of the war." "Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter's piano teacher. A provincial English newlywed, Claire is seduced by the colony's heady social life. She soon begins an affair ... only to discover that her lover's enigmatic demeanor hides a devastating past." "As the threads of this novel intertwine and converge, a landscape of impossible choices emerges - between love and safety, courage and survival, the present, and, above all, the past."--BOOK JACKET