Elwood Lucien is a young West Indian artist who lives within bicycle-riding distance of The Blue Basin - a site that becomes both the prophetic beginning of his art and the poetic end to his youth. After falling in love with the world of art as a child, he finally garners international attention. It seems, however, that Elwood is not made for fame; he is disgusted by the false adoration and insincerity of society people and shies from their attention.
After years spent alone, wandering from one tumultuous relationship to the next, Elwood meets Fauna on a beach. She is beautiful and different from all the women of his past and they experience an immediate connection. Her family too welcomes Elwood with open arms and it seems he has finally found what he has been searching for all his life; a home and a sense of purpose to his art.
With Fauna at his side, Elwood now begins his new life with greater promise and resolve. However, the past too arrives through old lovers and unpaid debts, and he realizes the irony of success that haunts each great artist: the greater the art, the greater the price one must pay.