内容简介：
Bristol in 1787 is a booming city where power and wealth beckon those who dare to take risks. Josiah Cole, a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city, but needs cash and a well-connected wife. Marriage to Frances Scott provides a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah's protection, Frances finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, run and slaves. Employed by her husband and sister-in law to train the slaves as house servants, Frances meets Mehru, a Yoruba priest from an ancient and civilized African kingdom. From opposing ends of the social scale, Mehru and Frances confront each other and learn the contradictory desires of passion, love, and the vital need for freedom.