In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discovered an island where they could make a life together. More than a century later, the Honeys' descendants remain on Apple Island, with an eccentric, diverse band of neighbours. Then comes the intrusion of "civilization": eugenics-minded state officials decide to "cleanse" the island, and a missionary-schoolteacher selects one light-skinned boy to save. The rest will be left to succumb to institutions or cast themselves on the waters in a new Noah's Ark.
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