FROM THE NUMBER 1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TEA PLANTER'S WIFE The Separation Dinah Jefferies' stunning debut novel is the heartbreaking tale of a family fractured by lies & one mother's love reaching across the distance of years & continents A country at war with itselfa family divided & betrayeda bond that can never be broken Malaya 1955 Lydia Cartwright returns from visiting a sick friend to an empty house The servants are gone The phone is dead Where is her husband Alec? Her young daughters Emma & Fleur? Fearful & desperate she contacts the British District Officer & learns that Alec has been posted up country But why didn't he wait? Why did he leave no message? Lydia's search takes her on a hazardous journey through war-torn jungle Forced to turn to Jack Harding a man she'd vowed to leave in her past she sacrifices everything to be reunited with her family And while carrying her own secrets Lydia will soon face a devastating betrayal which may be more than she can bear