In 1756 Calcutta is a city on the brink of Empire. In White Town Chief Magistrate Holwell and his arch-rival Governor Drake must unite to outwit the dangerous schemes of the Murshidabad Court. In Black Town the half-caste girl Sati, believed to be possessed by the Goddess Kali, becomes the centre of a religious cult. Her grandmother, Jaya, and her promiscuous mother, Rita, married to the Frenchman Demonteguy, battle for possession of her. Shuttled between the two towns of Calcutta, yet belonging to neither, Sati is in search of her identity. Many fall under her spell, including Emily, the Governors wife. In far off Murshidabad the new nawab is interested only in ridding India of the British and their growing threat to his country. He descends on Calcutta with a huge army. Locked into Fort William with a large number of the Black Town population the British residents plan their escape. Their attempt to flee infuriates the nawab and ends in the notorious incident of the Black Hole of Calcutta.

This ambitious novel explores a town divided by race and culture and the prejudices that would soon, after the Battle of Plassey, grow unchecked in the era of Empire.