Reginald Washington, a lonely, politically correct, rich, and highly esteemed English civil servant, nearing retirement age, meets by chance a strangely attractive Asian lady in an English pub. She is young enough to be his daughter and comes from the poorest region of Thailand, the Isaan. They begin a passionate love affair and despite many differences and family conflict, they fall deeply in love. She has a well buried past which she does not want him to know anything about.

A holiday in Thailand which takes them to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and a small village near Buriram begins happily enough but a series of events leads to a completely unforeseen conclusion. Even before they can struggle to come to terms with their changing relationship and attempt to gain insight and resilience, bad luck - or karma - takes control and seems intent on ruining their love. Separated and traumatized, Reginald finds himself journeying alone to Pattaya, Thailand's notorious, red-light city, where he tries to piece together his true love's past. She knows he is there and rushes to join him.

Jonathan Finch’s ironic and tragic novel depicts England full of itself, a world leader, with confident, affluent, successful and conceited people everywhere, and Thailand a country with social ills and problems galore. East is east and west is west. Can the two ever meet? Can Reginald L. Washington and his future Thai bride ever bridge the gap? In a world where divisions and differences abound, unity seems an unobtainable goal.

Consistently given four and five stars by reviewers, Finch’s latest novel is stylistically innovative and literary. Its irony is directed against vanity, over-reaching societies and politically correct conformism as well as being critical of one of Thailand's most characteristic ways of coping with poverty.