On a remote island in British India, a mute four-year-old and the local girl who cares for him disappear on the eve of Japanese occupation, forcing the boy’s parents, a young anthropologist and her physician husband, to take drastic measures to save the children. 

It’s 1942. The Japanese have invaded Burma and are closing in on India. After five years in the remote Andaman Islands, aspiring anthropologist Claire Durant and her husband Shep, a civil surgeon, must evacuate with their beloved but mysteriously mute four-year-old, Ty. However, they cannot take Naila, the local girl whose ability to communicate with Ty has made them dangerously dependent on her. The morning of the evacuation, both children disappear. With time running out, Shep forces Claire onto the ship while he stays behind to find their son. But just days after landing in Calcutta, Claire learns that the Japanese have taken the Andamans --- and cut off all access to her missing family. In the desperate odyssey that follows, Claire, Shep and Naila will take unimaginable risks while drawing deeply from their knowledge of these unique islands to save their beloved “glorious boy.”