The Ibis, loaded to its gunwales with a cargo of indentured servants, is in the grip of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal among the dozens flailing for survival are Neel, the pampered raja who has been convicted of embezzlement Paulette, the French orphan masquerading as a deck-hand and Deeti, the widowed poppy grower fleeing her homeland with her lover, Kalua. The storm also threatens the clipper ship Anahita, groaning with the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India for Canton. And the Redruth, a nursery ship, carries Frederick Fitcher Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down the priceless treasures of China that are hidden in plain sight its plants that have the power to heal, or beautify, or intoxicate. All will converge in Cantons Fanqui-town, or Foreign Enclave a tumultuous world unto itself where civilizations clash and sometimes fuse.
