In the early eighteenth century, a woman finds herself set adrift from a mutinous ship & cast ashore on a remote desert isl&. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a man named Cruso & his tongueless slave Friday. In time, she builds a life for herself as Cruso`s companion &, eventually, his lover. At last, they are rescued by a passing ship, but only she & Friday survive the journey back to London. Determined to have her story told, she pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will truthfully relate her memories to the world. But with Cruso dead, Friday incapable of speech & Foe himself intent on reshaping her narrative, Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past, only to fall victim to the seduction & tyranny of storytelling itself. Treacherous, elegant & unexpectedly moving, Foe remains one of the most exquisitely composed of this pre-eminent author`s works.