A gripping, exotic and epic tale for fans of Dinah Jeffries and Victoria Hislop The unexpected arrival of her willful teenage granddaughter, Ruby, brings life and disorder to 82-year-old Iris Blackâ¤s old house in Cairo. Ruby, driven away from England by her fraught relationship with her own mother, is seeking refuge with the grandmother she hasnâ¤t seen for years. An unlikely bond develops as Ruby helps Iris document her fading memories of the glittering, cosmopolitan Cairo of World War Two, and of her one true love â¤" the enigmatic Captain Xan Molyneux â¤" whom she lost to the ravages of war. This lost love shaped Irisâ¤s past â¤" and will affect Rubyâ¤s future in ways they could not have imagined⤦