A novel set mostly on a Caribbean island, where a retired white candy manufacturer lives in comfort with his wife, served by Black staff. Their household is disturbed by the arrival of Son, a fugitive, and by the attraction between him and Jadine, a sophisticated, Paris-educated Black model and the niece of the household servants. The book draws on an old folk tale and explores class, race, culture, and the pull between roots and ambition, as the two lovers struggle over who they want to be.