The Palaver Tree

Berriwood village, Cornwall, England; quiet, uneventful like the pace of schoolteacher Ellie's selfless existence.

One fateful meeting. One tragic event ......and one chance to do something more meaningful with her life.

The African school where Ellie volunteers seems like the perfect place to make every day count, but very soon there are more questions than answers. Is the school, where Ellie teaches, the place of loving and caring she had first thought it to be? And is headteacher, Gabriel Cole, really their guardian angel?

As deceit and lies begin to surface, Ellie's unquestioning faith in fate and fair play is shattered. With time comes the awful realisation that the betrayal stretches back, across the miles, all the way to her sleepy, village home.

Finally the time comes when she must choose between holding on to her principles or taking matters into her own hands.