Summoned to 1850s Hong Kong by a dying uncle, a young man from Cornwall must overcome treachery, diplomatic blundering and the enmity of powerful rivals to save a failing trading firm. The love of a Chinese woman and the bonds formed with her family give him higher ambitions as he seeks to build bridges of understanding between his country and hers during the Taiping Rebellion and the Second Opium War. Their story chronicles the struggle between compassion and exploitation in an era of swashbuckling adventure, when clipper ships dominated the China trade.