High in the Himalayas near Darjeeling the old mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. When it was the General's 'harem' palace richly dressed ladies wandered the windswept terraces; at night music floated out over the villages & gorges. Now the General's son has bestowed it on an order of nuns the Sisters of Mary. Well-intentioned yet misguided the nuns set about taming the gardens & opening a school & dispensary for the villagers. They are dependent on the local English agent of Empire Mr Dean; but his charm & insolent candour are disconcerting. & the implacable emptiness of the mountain the ceaseless winds exact a toll on the Sisters. When Mr Dean says bluntly ' This is no place for a nunnery ' it is as if he foresees their destiny...