Mackinac island is on the Great Lakes in the American Midwest. Just nine miles round, it has golf courses, expensive restaurants, no cars and plenty of rich people. And for the summer of 2000, it has Bell, a student, employed to serve the wealthy. Bell and her fellow waiters and waitresses sample the delights of this earthly paradise: luxurious yachts, alcohol, horse-drawn carriages; and they can't help but come to know each other intimately.

But this knowledge comes at a price. For they have each carried with them secrets from the outside world that will not be left behind...

A superb debut which offers an exquisitely distilled exploration of North american material and spiritual values - and equally - a riveting story of love, betrayal and survival.