General Sir Hugh Weigh is a war hero, a celebrated adventurer, and a best-selling author, whose personality has the power to inspire such strong loyalty and devotion that at least one person has willingly died for him. But in private, he is austere, imperious, even cruel, and his cold disregard for others has led to the deaths of his wife and son. Now two more people have begun to feel the force of his compelling nature: Shirley Forsdike, a schoolmistress who is obsessively in love with him, and Frank Cauldwell, a young writer at work on his first novel. Out of the conflict of their emotions and experiences Francis King weaves a gripping story of passion and despair
