First published 1995
Frances Scott is trapped in a convenient marriage to dockside trader Josiah Cole, her social status the price of his financial ambition. As Bristol's slave trade booms, Frances is drawn into the lucrative but horrific reality, her life now hinging on the brutal business. But an impossible attraction to her Yoruban slave, Mehuru, threatens to destroy them both. Philippa Gregory's lush historical novel lays bare the devastating human cost behind the era's "respectable" commerce.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, historical-romance
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance
Setting: Africa, Bristol, Bristol (England), England
Period: 18th century
Hardcover · Harpercollins
Content warnings: slavery, violence