This is a beautifully written book. It tells the story of Fred and Chrissie. Two people with very different backgrounds and beliefs. He is a university student who comes to St Kilda with his friend Archie to do research. She has never left the tiny island of St Kilda. Life on the island is hard especially in winter when they are often cut off from the rest of the world for months on end. Fred and Chrissie fall in love but for several reasons Fred does not keep his promise to return again to the island . The story moves back and forward in time between 1927 and 1941. Fred becomes a prisoner of war but is determined to escape and find Chrissie again. The reality of those times is brought to life by the description of his long and dangerous journey to freedom.