India, 1898: Pirbhai is thirteen when he steps into a dhow on the vague promise of work - his family is suffering and he will do anything to help. Forced to labour for the British on the East Africa Railway, he has no money, no voice, no power. Sonal is fierce and loving, always willing to fight for what she believes in. When Pirbhai, weathered from his time on the railway but not broken, walks into her father's shop, she knows he is part of her future, and together they set out for a new life in Uganda. So begins the story of their family as they scatter across the world, fleeing the brutality of Idi Amin.