The book is set on an unnamed, remote Caribbean island populated by a mix of ethnicities, but dominated by post-colonial British.

[1] The main characters of the book are Jane, a woman from London, and her romantic partner Roche, a white South African man, who have recently arrived on the island.

Roche is engaged with helping the poor on the island, which puts him in contact with a dishonest revolutionary opportunist named Jimmy.

As they socialize with the privileged, Roche finds Jane contradictory and politically naive about her own place in the power structure, while also being challenged about his own motives and purpose.

Naipaul wrote about Michael X in his book of essays The Return of Eva Peron and The Killings in Trinidad.