A novel, set in the latter half of the 18th century, in a small village in Kent. The village is remote, bordered by the estuary and woodlands. It was gradually transformed following the unexpected marriage of a young woman, the daughter of a shepherd, to a rich merchant from a faraway land. The scandalised, suspicious villagers are slowly seduced by the generosity of the new arrival. In his wake came the ship's cook, with the miraculous ability to...