:Set three centuries ago in the Banda Islands of the Dutch East Indies, the story follows Annabet van Goens, the daughter of a wealthy Dutch landowner. She enters into a "glove marriage" (a marriage by proxy) to Evert Haan, a ruthless merchant who has grown incredibly wealthy from the black-market nutmeg trade. When Annabet arrives in the tropical colonies severely ill with rheumatic fever, her disappointed husband secretly orders her to be killed. However, Annabet survives, recovers her health, and finds herself caught in a dangerous, forbidden love affair with a handsome English rival amid a backdrop of colonial conflict.