As revealed in their diaries, the island legacy of Maximilienne and Emilie Carpentier exposes them to dangerous situations and treacherous loves. Determined to retain their inheritance, the cousins encounter both seducers and enemies, with neither woman always sure of the difference between friend and foe. What is certain, however, is that they must fight for the birthright they treasure, even when their antagonists are their closest relatives.

Centered around a waterfall and a labrynth, their story is both inspiring and unusual. Struggling for survival, Maximilienne finds herself guileless and vulnerable, and with Emilie her only encouragement, death often seems the most welcome of solutions - either that, or she must bring down her enemies, but since that would destroy her young cousin's family, the choice is far from easy.

Eventually the two women gain control, but even this victory is short-lived. Following a tragedy neither could forsee, Emilie is left to redeem the family name and inheritance. In her record of how she accomplishes this, her life, loves and confessions produce a remarkable eighteenth-century tale. In the rough-and-tumble world of gunrunning and slavery, the Carpentier cousins' commitment to their legacy provides responses that only the most determined can offer.