From the award-winning author of Ishmael's Oranges comes a searing novel with a profound moral conflict at its heart. When a heart attack kills his father, young architect Nick abandons his comfortable London life to volunteer abroad for a year - a last chance to prove himself, and atone for old sins. But in a remote village on the edge of the Sahara, dangerous currents soon engulf him: a simmering family conflict, hidden violence and dangerous fanaticism. An illicit attraction to his host's lonely wife soon threatens both of their worlds. But when a deadly drought descends it brings an irrevocable choice: should he take matters into his own hands? Or let fate run its course? His decision has life-changing consequences for them all.