Alexander’s historical novel tells a story of Capt. Francis Light, the founder of the British colony in Penang, in what is now Malaysia.

Jim Lloyd starts his career at Fort William in Calcutta, India, where he works under the authority of his father’s representatives in a dissatisfying job as a junior office worker. Jim’s frustration about his work conditions and his desire to have a more consequential job cause him to take notice when a colleague asks, “What fires up yer passion, then?” Later, a chance meeting with trader James Scott inspires Jim to write a letter to Capt. Light and secure a position in Penang’s capital of George Town as an assistant and a “suitable chronicler” of Light’s life, as the latter “desires his name to be in the history books.” Upon arrival in Penang, Jim finds that it’s not the glorious colony that he anticipated but a grim and dangerous place, particularly compared to his earlier living arrangements. Still, as Jim encounters the perils of trade in Penang, he naïvely believes Light’s lies about a colony that Alexander effectively reveals as full of malaria, treachery, thievery, murder, and deceit. The author also spotlights Light’s and other colonists’ racism; for instance, early on, Jim asks to live with the Malay people in hopes of learning more of their religion and culture: “Light looked startled. ‘Whyever would you wish to do that?...You do realize you are asking to reside among pirates, Jim,’ barked Light.” Key to the story is the friendship between Jim and an intriguing Dutchman named Pieter Reinaert, and Alexander adeptly weaves Jim’s relationships into the history of Penang and the British East India Company. Along the way, Alexander reveals Light’s troubling relationship with Sultan Abdullah, the Queda ruler who ceded Penang to the East India Company based on false promises, and the author shows how these lies create tension that has the potential to start a war.

A rich story of intrigue and deception with some engaging twists and turns.