If there's one thing Joe Hopkins knows better than anyone, it's that the past can be very uncomfortable. But life in wealthy Georgian Bristol seems surprisingly civilized. Lucy's house is light and airy, and there are sandwiches and tea with sugar.

 

He soon discovers, however, that this civility is only skin deep: Lucy's family is shockingly involved in slavery.

 

When he meets the African slaves her father has brought back from Jamaica, Joe swiftly finds there are other people in the house who are determined to see them gone, and to profit from their disappearance.

 

Can Joe and Lucy save the slaves from the horrifying fate that threatens them? And can Joe make Lucy see that freedom is what matters most?