The river of smoke

Follow a magical cast of storm-tossed charactters, from the lush island of Mauritius to the alleys and waterways of nineteenth-century Canton. There, in the crowded harbours, disparate lives converge as people come to find their fortunes, opium merchants from Europe and India exchange their illicit cargo for riches, and an Englishman goes in search of a mythical flower. But all their lives are about to change dramatically as the Chinese emperor steps up the fight to banish the poisonous opium trade from his shores for ever...