"Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers."--Los Angeles Times

The New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and A Long Petal of the Sea tells the story of one unforgettable woman--a slave and concubine determined to take control of her own destiny--in this sweeping historical novel that moves from the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the ninteenth century.

The daughter of an African mother she never knew and a white sailor, Zarit --known as T t --was born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue. Growing up amid brutality and fear, T t found solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and the mysteries of voodoo.

Her life changes when twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770 to run his father's plantation, Saint Lazare. Overwhelmed by the challenges of his responsibilities and trapped in a painful marriage, Valmorain turns to his teenaged slave T t , who becomes his most important confidant. The indelible bond they share will connect them across four tumultuous decades and ultimately define their lives.