Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression.
A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
Elliot heads for the sexual fantasy island, Eden. He takes some photos of diamond smugglers. They and undercover cops want the photos and follow him to Eden.