Imagine that Buonaparte, instead of Wellington, had won the Battle of Waterloo and that his ex-wife Empress Josephine is presiding over French-occupied England... Wellington is in secret captivity in the Scilly Isles and the Cornish are threatening to join forces with France against the English. Against this tumultuous backdrop, Hester Harewood manages to escape from the French soldiers who have killed her black sea captain father. Her rescuer – Jack 'Crow' Crowlas – takes her to shelter with his aristocratic family in London. But soon they are embroiled in a web of treachery and espionage, as plans are laid to free Wellington and lead an uprising against the French occupation. Meanwhile, Crow's younger brother throws in his lot with the Cornish rebels and threatens to bring Hester and Crow's elaborate plans crashing down, as this spellbinding story builds towards its violent and gripping endgame.
