You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames`. Bougainville, 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda`s last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers` safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville`s children are surprised to find the island`s only white man, a recluse, reopening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts` inspiring reading of Great Expectations. But on an island at war, the power of