Way of an Eagle

Muriel Roscoe arrives in India to join her father, a general stationed at a remote fort. When the garrison comes under attack, she is thrust into the hands of Captain Nick Ratcliffe, a rough, quick-witted soldier whose audacious methods get them both out alive. The escape is brutal. Muriel emerges shaken, her carefully constructed world view shattered by a man who fought like a demon and spoke like a tavern regular. She cannot separate him from the terror of that night. Yet everywhere she turns in the Anglo-Indian community, she encounters another version of Nick: the man beloved by his comrades, cherished by his family, unexpectedly tender. As she struggles to reconcile the fearsome creature she witnessed with the good-humored man others know, Muriel must choose between the safety of her prejudices and the terrifying vulnerability of truly seeing someone. Dell weaves colonial adventure with psychological nuance, asking what happens when the person who saves your life is not the person you could love.