When Henry Lighterman, an army officer in the Cairo of 1898, asks for Melanie Askham’s hand in marriage, her upper-class family does not approve. Young Harry might be in the same regiment as Melanie’s brother Bosco, but his father is merely a wealthy shopkeeper. Headstrong, proud and passionate, Melanie insists on a hasty wedding in Cairo, as she expects Harry to be sent south to Omdurman any day.

          But disaster strikes the family when an Anglo-Egyptian tries to blackmail Lady Askham and she is forced to leave Cairo abruptly, taking with her melanie, who is already disenchanted with her husband. As Bosco Askham travels south to join the troops, he vows vengeance…

          Never Such Innocence as the magnificently sweeping novel of a powerful aristocratic family haunted by its past: a stunning romantic story of love and war, of folly and intrigue.