She hates the masters, but much of the novel deals with how she "aspires to obtain a privileged stature within plantation society by submitting to the sexual subjugation of a white overseer, Robert Quinn".

While this fact at times brings him sympathy from the reader, his whiteness overshadows his Irishness in most cases, but importantly complicates the power dynamics on the plantation.

Additionally, the novel explores the complexity of the many roles of women with some characters having deep connections to Obeah and Myal spiritualism.

“Rape, torture, murder and other dehumanizing acts propel the narrative, never failing to shock in both their depravity and their humanness.

"[2] The antagonizing women in the novel are also complex—for example, Isobel, the master's white love interest and expected future wife, challenges the traditional, European ideals for womanhood.

When she is acting in a manner contrary to those expectations, she is described as "Creole" and implying that she is something lesser than a European woman because she has lived in Jamaica.

[10] The Los Angeles Times, who also praised the novel, commented on the scenes of brutality: "The novel can be unrelentingly violent, and the litany of terror, torture and revenge is long and horrifically detailed.