Set in Bengal in 1756, this story traces British interaction with the Indians in the months leading up to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident, in which approximately 250 caucasions were imprisoned by Indian merchants in a tiny room, leaving only 30 alive the next day. We follow the lives of two British leaders of the white community, the Chief Magistrate Holwell and his enemy, the governor Drake. In the Indian community, mixed-race Sati causes commotion when she becomes possessed by the goddess Kali. Against a vividly created backdrop of dirt, decay, and slime from the Hoogly river, Chand shows the shaky foundations of British power and how the British come to realize the extent of their dependence on the indigenous population.