The chance discovery of a cache of letters rekindled Marijcke Jongbloed's lifelong fascination with the circumstances of her birth and her parents' wartime experiences in the Far East. The letters were written in captivity by her father and smuggled through Japanese controls to her mother in a different internment camp in Indonesia. Sixty-five years later, they form the basis of a fascinating and moving insight into survival under the cruel conditions of a distant and frequently ignored part of the Second World War. The author has had a varied career as a medical doctor, writer, amateur biologist and champion of wildlife conservation. She grew up in Indonesia and Holland and worked in both countries before taking up an appointment as a family doctor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There her passion for natural history found its outlet in writing. She became an advocate for the protection and conservation of wildlife. Her work for the environment in the UAE was recognised with civil honours in both the UAE and Holland. She now lives in France.