In the early nineteenth century, the Strong family are sugar barons - wealthy, arrogant, decadent and ruthless - with a string of plantations in Barbados and an English stronghold near Bristol. Then one night, the actions of one generation alter the family's legacy forever. The three Strong brothers are in the West Indies, overseeing their inheritance. In this balmy, tropical setting, an ugly situation is fuelled by Barbados rum; a murder is committed and a child conceived. The repercussions of this fatal night have a violent domino effect which passes into the next generation of Strongs.