Olivia Dempsey’s life changes forever in December 1941 when a Japanese fighter plane appears in the clear blue sky above her school playing fields. The Japanese army has invaded the British colony of Malaya from the north and Georgia’s father must leave their rubber plantation to help fight the invaders. Ho Lap, the family’s Chinese servant, is sent to take Olivia and her best friend Georgia to the train station. From there they are to travel to meet their mothers in the safety of Singapore. But safety proves hard to find and help is far away ...