It is 1704 &, in the swamps of Louisiana, France is clinging on to its new colony with less than two hundred men. Into this hostile land comes Elisabeth Savaret, one of twenty-three women sent from Paris to marry men they have never met. With little expectation of happiness, Elisabeth is stunned to find herself falling passionately in love with her husb&, infrantryman Jean-Claude Babelon. But Babelon is a dangerous man to love. Witness to Elisabeth`s devotion is another of his acolytes, Auguste, a young boy despatched to act as a go-between with the `redskins`. When both Elisabeth & Auguste find their love challenged by Babelon`s duplicity, the consequences are devastating. It is longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010.