In 1770, at the age of 20, Toulouse Valmorain leaves France for the French colony of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean. Following his father’s death by syphilis a few months later, Valmorain takes over his sugar plantation, which is currently unprofitable and in disarray. Within three years, Valmorain reforms the plantation; known as Saint-Lazare, the plantation is much more productive under his control. Valmorain considers himself a “just master” to the enslaved people who work his plantation. He hires Prosper Cambray, a free man with African and European ancestry, as the head overseer at Saint-Lazare. Socially, Valmorain remains largely aloof, though he does frequently visit Violette Boisier, a sex worker in the city of Le Cap.

The daughter of a courtesan who was killed by a jealous lover, Violette took up the same profession as her mother. She quickly became one of Le Cap’s most prestigious courtesans. She is supported by Loula, an enslaved African woman who acts as servant and bodyguard.

Among the many men who pay for sexual favors, Violette grows particularly close to two: Valmorain and Étienne Relais, a French officer. Whereas Violette and Valmorain’s relationship eventually settles into a friendship, Relais falls in love with Violette from the moment he first spots her. Encountering Loula, Relais pays to schedule his first appointment with Violette, during which he is transfixed by her beauty.

During their first night together, Violette charms Relais with her practiced flirtation, including passing a piece of chewed mango from her mouth to his. Touched by Relais’s obvious emotion, Violette prolongs their appointment, and they make love for several hours. Relais asks her to marry him, but she says he is too poor. He resolves to save money. In the meantime, he continues to visit and advise her “like an uncle” (22). Violette’s fame rises as she and Loula save money.

In 1778, Valmorain travels to Cuba on business. There he attends a ball, where a young woman named Eugenia García del Solar catches his eye. She and her brother, Sancho García del Solar, belong to an aristocratic but impoverished Spanish family. Sancho eagerly accepts Valmorain’s offer to marry Eugenia, and she offers no objections, even though she hardly understands French. Valmorain spends a few months in Cuba courting her and opens a business relationship with Sancho.

In November 1778, Valmorain returns to Saint-Domingue, where he hires Violette to outfit his home in preparation for Eugenia’s arrival. In addition to purchasing decorations and furniture on Valmorain’s behalf, Violette also purchases enslaved people to serve as domestic servants. Recognizing something of herself in the young girl, Violette purchases Tété from the French widow Madame Delphine Pascal, her former French teacher. As they haggle over the price, Madame Delphine reveals that Tété’s mother was a “queen” in Africa who died shortly after giving birth. She adds that Tété is a hard worker, although she has a habit of running away. An elderly enslaved man named Honoré named Tété and helped raise her. Tété moves in with Violette and Loula, who prepare her to become Eugenia’s maid.

Tété admires Violette. Nonetheless, she becomes anxious about her future at Saint-Lazare and runs away after a few weeks. She takes only her Voodoo doll, which was a gift from Honoré; the doll represents Erzulie, a loving, maternal spirit that serves as an intermediary between humans and God. After a few days, Tété becomes so tired and hungry that she returns to Violette’s home voluntarily. Violette tells Tété that she should consider herself lucky and give up on the idea of freedom. A few weeks later, Valmorain takes Tété to Saint-Lazare.

About a year later, Valmorain and Eugenia, now his wife, make their way to Le Cap to witness the execution of a Maroon leader.

In Le Cap, Relais earns respect as he strives to maintain order despite raids from the self-emancipated individuals, known as Maroons, who live in the mountains. Prior to becoming Valmorain’s overseer, Cambray spent three years in the militia chasing down fugitives from slavery. Ambitious and cunning, he zealously disciplines the enslaved people at Saint-Lazare.

On the way to Le Cap, Valmorain tells Eugenia about François Macandal, a Maroon who poisoned a number of French plantation owners in the 1750s before he was captured and executed. Moments before he was burned alive, Macandal called out “I will be back!” (52). In the view of the enslaved people who witnessed the execution, Macandal then escaped as a mosquito and continued to fight for freedom as a mythological entity. Eugenia, who fears the Maroons and Voodoo, is spooked by the tale. Tété, who has grown fond of the increasingly frail woman, comforts her.

Still on their way to Le Cap, the characters camp for the night. Eugenia, who feels that the climate is oppressive, asks to go visit her brother in Cuba. Valmorain refuses. Tété helps Eugenia say her prayers and fall into an uneasy sleep. After disrobing, Valmorain checks on his wife. He then questions Tété, who is about 10 years old, to determine whether the girl is sexually mature. Leaving Tété alone, he goes to bed.

Arriving in Le Cap the night before the execution, Valmorain houses the enslaved members of his party in cramped quarters on boats in the harbor. Failing to find a room for rent, and with Eugenia growing increasingly ill, he appeals to a high-ranking official, the intendant. The man offers them rooms. That night, the intendant hosts a ball for the social elites, including Valmorain. As Eugenia’s condition worsens, a well-respected physician named Dr. Parmentier examines her and determines that she is pregnant. Tété stays with Eugenia during the execution, and the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage the next day.

Over the next few years, Eugenia’s mental health deteriorates, in keeping with her family history of dementia. She grows increasingly dependent on Tété to meet her basic needs. Tante Rose, a healer and Voodoo priestess who serves as a godmother to Tété, administers drugs to ease Eugenia’s condition. Under the pretense of caring for Eugenia, Dr. Parmentier studies the methods of Tante Rose, whom he respects.

After a series of miscarriages, Eugenia again becomes pregnant. Despite Tante Rose’s assurances to the contrary, Eugenia fears that the child is the subject of a Voodoo curse.

Eugenia remains sedated for the bulk of her pregnancy. At Valmorain’s request, Dr. Parmentier agrees to stay at Saint-Lazare to assist in Eugenia’s care. The doctor gladly continues studying Tante Rose’s herbal treatments.

One day, a young, enslaved woman named Séraphine is injured by the cane press. While treating her, Tante Rose learns that Séraphine is pregnant. Cambray is unmoved. At Dr. Parmentier’s insistence, though, he reluctantly allows Tante Rose to treat her personally instead of leaving the woman in the stable that doubles as a makeshift hospital.

A day or two later, Dr. Parmentier and Valmorain argue about slavery. Valmorain insists that there are inherent differences between races and that slavery is an unfortunate necessity. The doctor counters that there are no significant biological differences between races and that slavery is morally repugnant; he adds that accidents like Séraphine’s could be avoided with better working conditions. Without mentioning it, the doctor recalls Séraphine asking Tante Rose to end her life as well as that of her unborn child.

When Tété passes by, Valmorain asks her opinion. She responds, “A being who is not human has no opinions” (87).

By the time Eugenia goes into labor, Tété has come to share her mistress’s belief that the child will be a zombie and that Baron Samedi, a spirit of the underworld, will come to take the child away. When Baron Samedi appears, Tété sees him. Dr. Parmentier, as a nonbeliever, does not. Tante Rose negotiates with the spirit, who agrees to free Eugenia’s baby from the curse in exchange for Séraphine’s life. Accordingly, Séraphine dies just as Eugenia’s baby is born. As Tété passes the baby to the waiting wet nurse, Tété feels a motherly bond with the child.

Valmorain is delighted at the birth of his son, whom he names Maurice, and declares a day of celebration.

The next day, as Dr. Parmentier is preparing to leave, Tété confides in him that she has a son, born a year earlier, and Valmorain is the father. Valmorain sent Eugenia to Cuba during Tété’s pregnancy to avoid troubling her, and he gave away the child soon after it was born. The doctor refuses Tété’s request to ask Valmorain about the fate of Tété’s child, feeling it would be improper.

After Valmorain spots Eugenia shaking Maurice, he assigns Tété to be the boy’s primary caregiver. When Eugenia asks for her son, Tété distracts her with rag dolls. As Eugenia’s condition worsens, she attempts to run away from home on one occasion and almost burns the house down on another. At night, Valmorain frequently summons Tété for sex.

As Eugenia’s condition worsens, Valmorain grows increasingly reclusive, only counting Dr. Parmentier and Sancho as friends. Tété manages the household effectively and is particularly attentive to Maurice, who calls her “Maman,” despite Valmorain’s disapproval. Tété comes to view her repeated sexual assaults by Valmorain as a chore to complete. To escape boredom, Valmorain also plays card games with Tété. At first she loses on purpose, but once Valmorain tells her to try to win, she regularly outplays him.

Tété learns to subtly manipulate Valmorain, and she influences him to select Gambo, a newly arrived 14-year-old enslaved boy, to work in the kitchens instead of the fields.

Tété helps Tante Rose treat Gambo, who was wounded by Cambray after he tried to run away. She teaches him to speak Creole, and the two quickly fall in love.

As self-emancipated forces continue to rebel against slavery, Valmorain considers allowing Cambray to use harsher measures against the enslaved people. News of the French Revolution reaches the colony, further increasing social instability.

In addition to raping many of the enslaved women, Cambray lusts after Tété, whom Valmorain forbids him from touching. When Tété becomes pregnant again, despite Tante Rose’s efforts to the contrary, she asks for an abortion, which Tante Rose refuses, since Valmorain might retaliate; Tété wonders if the child’s father is Gambo or Valmorain. When Valmorain notices that she is pregnant, she begins to cry, and he promises to let her keep the baby, since Eugenia would not notice or care.

Tété explains that Gambo, whose name means “warrior,” grew up in Africa, was captured, and endured a miserable journey over land and sea to arrive in Saint-Domingue. As he plots his escape, he tells Tété that he loves her more than anything except his honor.