This is a classic novel of the Malayan Emergency seen through the eyes of a Chinese girl Suyin who fell in love with a British police officer and yet able to see both sides of the war. But she sympathizes more with the Communist guerrillas and is critical of the methods used by the British to win the war. This novel is partly an autobiography of the time when Han Suyin worked as a doctor in Johor Bahru, Malaya and married a British intelligence officer. It is said that her critical views of the British in this novel soured her relationship with the British establishment.
