Paris, 1792. When Jean-Louis Aubert narrowly escapes death in the bloody streets of Paris during the French Revolution, he abandons his study for the priesthood and seeks a safe haven in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue. Through a chance meeting with wealthy silk merchant and plantation owner Michel Saunier and his family, Jean finds work and romance on the steamy tropical island, where black slaves are forced to labor inhumanely in the sugarcane fields. For young Marie Josephine Saunier, her anticipated adventure on the island turns to tragedy and loss, as the slaves' quest for freedom erupts in a terrifying rebellion. The colony is thrust into a war of race and revenge that ends with the formation of a new nation, Haiti. Estranged by the war and their own inner conflicts, Jean and Marie escape separately to nearby Cuba. But their refuge in the Spanish colony is short-lived.