The Horn of Africa holds a rather enigmatic and glamorous image from another age and Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, is a country of outstanding natural beauty. This novel is a captivating tale of love, betrayal and destiny amidst the medical community in a mission hospital in Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie is the revered but ageing politician feted by the international community (he was Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1936) but latterly facing military coups, leading to the familiar heavy African burden of bloodshed and famine. The strands of the narrative come together against this backdrop of political turmoil but yet in a country of people who are immeasurably dignified and hospitable.

Thomas Stone is the hospital surgeon, an Edinburgh graduate, who is …