In 1932, three young women go up to Oxford: Verity, a clergyman's daughter, her aristocratic cousin, Lady Claudia, and Lally, a senator's daughter from Chicago. Verity and Claudia plunge into university life with passion and energy, forming nee friendships and questioning all the orthodoxies of their background. Both are swept into the political fervour of the thirties, but on opposite sides, as Verity falls under the influence of the intense Etonian communist, Alfred Gore, while Claudia is drawn to the urbane, pro-German economiist, John Petrus. Lally watches and keeps her own counsel, earing the respect and affection of their circle. Verity's convictions lead her to take agonizing decisions, which affect not only her future, but also that of her family and friends. In the fearful days of 1938, almost destroyed by the choices she has made and disillusioned with most of her beliefs, she embarks on a journey to India - a stormy voyage, overshadowed by danger and the fear of war; a voyage which changes her life.