The year is 1883. Eduard van De Lier is a Dutchman overseeing a spice plantation on the island of Java, in the South Pacific. His obsessive attraction to dark-skinned men is just one of his many secrets. His wife Marien knows of his indiscretions, but as she's content with their Colonial lifestyle, she stays silent. Until a former lover of Eduard's shows up in their parlor with thoughts of blackmail. Reza was a crewman on the ship that brought the van De Liers to Java. During the passage, Eduard spent many a night in the younger man's arms. Two years have passed, and the last person Eduard expects to find in his drawing room is Reza, a letter in hand that could destroy the life he and Marien lead. Seeing him again ignites Eduard's lust for his first dark lover. He hopes to retrieve the letter, either through seduction or subterfuge, and the longer Reza eludes him, the more his desire grows. But they're on shaky ground, and before things can heat up between them, their world explodes -- literally -- when the unstable island of Krakatoa erupts.

All Shook Up

I don’t actually rememberthose early years—these images are taken from my mother’s photo albums, memories pinned down in time like captured butterflies tacked to cardboard for display. In my mind, my parents have never aged—they’ve always looked exactly the same as they did the last time I saw them, despite any photographic evidence to the contrary. The people in these old pictures resemble my parents the way a candle’s flame resembles the roar of a bonfire. I see pictures of myself as a child and I don’t quite believe that’s me.


Chapter 8