A beautifully written and absorbing story of exile and redemption set against the stark Patagonian wilderness at the start of the modern age. A story of irresistible passion, and quiet courage in the face of savagery.
Mattieu Macanan has fled his home in France, to work as a doctor in a remote region of South America where his past is unknown. There he tends to the local tribes and tries to avoid contact with European settlers. When Silke Khan and her husband Theo fly into his world with plans to run an airmail service in the area his reclusive life is irrevocably altered. While Mattieu struggles to resist his attraction to Silke, hostilities created by the coming war escalate, drawing the local people into their orbit and forcing the doctor to decide which side he is on. But what is he hiding from? Can he really help the local tribes survive the disease and trouble the Europeans unleash? In offering refuge to Silke Khan, has Mattieu finally committed a fatal move?