As the goods ship McCarthy wends its way from the UK to China across troubled waters, Susan and Howard—two employees in a shipping and logistics company—establish an extraordinary friendship in cyberspace. Susan is based in the USA, while Howard conducts his role from Singapore. The distance between them is vast, and the time zone differences do them few favours, but there's a job to be done. Entrusted with ensuring the timely delivery to Shanghai of a valuable cargo, they discuss everything under the sun (and then some) as their relationship develops with each passing port of call. Their differences become their strengths, as their business relationship develops into a warm friendship in which they share personal stories and comments on the world around them. Set in the near future, Only Connect is a spiritual and actual journey around the world in which we live and to which we have become used, with a denouement that will leave readers gobsmacked and with a new-found appreciation of what it's like to be a human being in the current age.