In this prequel to Jane Eyre, Edward Rochester finds himself in Jamaica looking to make his fortune. As the second son, the expectation is that his brother will inherit the family estate and so his future must lie elsewhere. He soon meets Antoinette Cosway and is offered a substantial dowry to marry her. Only after the wedding does he learn of her family history, including the madness that afflicted her mother. Their relationship in a constant downward spiral, he decides that they should return to England where he keeps her locked away in her room.

A New York City doctor, who is married to an art curator, pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.