l intrigue, love and loss, and the soul-stirring value of friendship

London, mid-1930s. Fascism is on the rise. Against the backdrop of political upheaval, two friends-Vernon, a mixed-race Ceylonese postgraduate student, and Saul, a wealthy Jewish intellectual and connoisseur of music-meet regularly for tea at a Lyons' Corner House on Coventry Street. They discuss everything under the sun. Despite their blossoming friendship, however, neither of them is completely frank with the other. They both have dark secrets: Vernon about his political activities; Saul about his wife. As the narrative progresses, and as Vernon's and Saul's storylines converge, their secrets slowly come to light to the reader and to each other.

After his father becomes seriously ill in 1936, Vernon takes sabbatical leave from university and, with Saul accompanying him, returns to Ceylon. The personal drama and political intrigue continue from there.