"In 1927, orphaned eight-year-old Alec Oswin sails from India to an unknown future in England. Meanwhile, in the English fenlands, June Attwell memorizes maps, patterns, and railway timetables, hoping for a future beyond her father's vicarage. Alec and June become friends, and, in time, marry. When the Second World War breaks out, Alec joins the RAF, while the Foreign Office sends June to its covert Y-service outposts on the edge of the war-torn Empire. Their post-war reunion is bittersweet: Alec, shot down and imprisoned in a series of POW camps, grapples with his feelings of uselessness, while June has found her calling."--Provided by publisher.