As the pampered young daughter of a

British colonial in Singapore, just before

World War II, Ursula Fraser led a

charmed life. Then the Japanese arrived,

and slowly began taking over the

peninsula. Like the young boy in J. O.

Ballard s Empire of the Sun, Ursula

watches as the adults rationalize their

inaction, and paradise falls apart.

Ursula s childhood ends suddenly as

she faces the terrifying loss of her parents

to the Japanese invaders. A survivor, her

instincts lead her to a secret place where

she blends in with a native family--once

her servants--who hide her in their

village until the Japanese leave. But the

occupation lasts three years, and Ursula

is changed forever.

At war s end, Ursula goes to England

to live with cold, uncaring relatives. She

longs for the warmth of the sun, of

family and friends, and so marries rather

naively, and disastrously.

Disillusioned by her marriage, she has

an affair--a love affair so passionate she

follows her lover to Australia. There, on