Fire Portrait

Frances McDonald, an Englishwoman, makes a new life in a small, isolated settlement in South Africa, tucked beneath the Hex River Mountains. Her neighbours regard her warily. Tied to a husband through a union made for practical reasons rather than love, she finds purpose in learning the local tongue, teaching painting, and showing canvases of the open veld.

War gathers on the horizon and threatens to split both the nation and the town, putting at risk the acceptance Frances has slowly earned. When her husband leaves to fight alongside the Allies, she unexpectedly crosses paths with someone from her past. The happiness of that reunion is overshadowed by an event that alters the course of her life.

From the wreckage of a dreadful fire, she sets out on a path that carries her from the dry plains to London and farther afield.