In the early eighteenth century a woman finds herself set adrift from a mutinous ship and cast
ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a
man named Cruso and his tongueless slave Friday. In time she builds a life for herself as
Cruso's companion and eventually his lover. At last they are rescued by a passing ship but
only she and Friday survive the journey back to London.Determined to have her story told she
pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will truthfully relate her
memories to the world. But with Cruso dead Friday incapable of speech and Foe himself intent
on reshaping her narrative Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past only to fall
victim to the seduction and tyranny of storytelling itself.
