In 1786, Scottish poet Robert Burns was penniless and wanting to escape the consequences of his complicated love life when he accepted a position as overseer on an estate in Jamaica. This fictional journal, supposedly discovered in an Amerindian village in 1998, cleverly fills in the blanks as to what might have happened next. The story tells of a brilliant man who becomes mixed up in the world of sugar and slavery, and whose propensity for falling in love, his humanity, and his urge to write poetry follow him to the islands. The author draws on historic sources to suggest how Burns might have responded to slavery and pastiches of Burns' poetry add to this inventive reconstruction.