The year is 1980. On a former French Plantation east of Chanthaburi, a very exclusive gathering brings together five extraordinary women. Stories were their business, and Gilda was at the top of the heap. There wasn’t a war she hadn’t reported, a scandal she hadn’t uncovered or a bestseller list she hadn’t topped.

The Whisky & Ink Ladies Drinking Society numbered only five at any one time, no boys allowed. Its meetings took place every two years. And Claude, daughter of the late Ava Wood, wants in. If things go right, she’ll be initiated into WILDS at the end of the visit.