Requiem for a Wren

His brother Bill, a Royal Marine frogman, has been killed in action, and Alan is now returning to his wealthy parents' prosperous sheep station (ranch) in Australia.

Alan has studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and fought as an RAF pilot in World War II, but lost both feet when his plane crashed.

His arrival home is marred by the apparent suicide, a few hours earlier, of a young Englishwoman named Jessie Proctor, who was his parents' housekeeper.

[2] Alan guesses that this troubled woman must have left personal papers hidden somewhere in case her suicide attempt was not successful.

Reading through Janet's diaries, Alan learns that she came to Australia to find Bill's family, and that she still feels she must atone for the deaths of the seven men.