Set in the year 1831, Edward Tostig is a young merchant seaman whose ship is attacked by pirates. The attempt at boarding becomes a firefight, then a slaughter as the pirates invade the ship and decimate the crew. During the melee on deck, Edward is hurled bodily into the sea, left to drown. Instead he finds an island the following day, where he will remain for the next eighteen months. His faith in God and his eventual rescue fill his waking hours as he adapts to his adopted home on the island.
A parallel story tells of the beautiful Hilda Crowley, a young woman coming of age in Hampshire, England. This is a seemingly unrelated narrative until later in the book when it is revealed that her destiny will entwine with Edward's, in the next addition to this series, Homecoming.
A third thread of storyline follows Albert Skellar, a shipmate of Edward's who survives the pirate attack and makes his way back to England with Edward's stow box of his belongings. Albert seeks out Edward's family on a farm near Droxford and brings Edward's belongings home, believing that his friend had perished in the sea.
Edward meanwhile, is beset with a toothache which festers badly and becomes life threatening. He allows his anger and frustration to spill over and rants at God for not hearing his prayers for rescue. He further calls out to any power of this world or beyond who might hear him?
A passing Demon DOES hear him, stops to speak with him and ultimately offers him a way out, which involves selling his soul to the Devil to fix his jaw and get him off the island. Edward is cured of his dental issues and picked up by a British warship after Satan sets the island ablaze, the smoke drawing their attention. He gets a ride back to a port near his home as the storyline feeds into the next book. All he had to do was to agree to bear the curse that the Devil included as a part of the bargain; seven generations of his offspring will be held in thrall to the Family Plan.