In 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, "the place on earth farthest from any other place." The island is populated by English expatriates, the descendants of Portuguese settlers, and their slaves. Bonaparte's arrival--with a retinue of fifteen hundred people--throws the island population into turmoil and particularly alarms the slaves, who believe the emperor to be a demon. After settling in a teahouse in a patch of briars and fruit trees, Napoleon is befriended by a teenage girl, Betsy Balcombe--the only person who is able to penetrate the imperial facade and understand the proud, wounded man within.