It's 1960, and pregnant with her lover's child, Heather Fontwell makes a plan to visit her husband William at the tea plantation he manages in Kenya. She books passage on the SS Uganda, hoping to convince him that the baby is his. In Kenya, William is distracted by news of financial misconduct at the plantation, something he suspects may be down to Mombasa harbourmaster Carruthers – currently on the SS Uganda making his way back to Kenya... During her journey, Heather meets resistance, travelling as a single woman, particularly from the unpleasant Carruthers. The morning sickness she is hiding leads her to rely more and more on the thaliadomide tablets that the ship matron is handing out like sweets. When events take a tragic turn,William arrives at the port in Mombasa to find no wife and a captain and crew who seem to be hiding the truth...