Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, and determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in 1920s Ceylon is not what Gwen had expected ...

Why on earth did Bill have to bring the wimpish Gustavus with them on holiday? Neither Jack nor Kiki the parrot like the boy at all. But when Gustavus is kidnapped, along with Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann, Jack must bravely follow them to a faraway country and unravel a plot to kill the king.