Sydney Jordan and Fanny Edwards are two emancipated slaves who continue to work on the white man's sugar plantation in Tobago.Sydney falls in love with Fanny, the maid in the Great House and they get married. Sydney soon discovers that Fanny is pregnant and questions whether he is the father. Fanny eventually gives birth to a mixed race daughter whom she names Petra. Fanny insists on keeping her secret and Sydney is devastated.Petra's problems, as she grows up, are more than Sydney and Fanny can bear. This is a thrilling, nerve-racking and thought-provoking story.