“When she was young, Amadeo reflected, she must have been breathtaking. Her white, finely wrinkled skin did not sag from her high cheekbones and her dark eyes were still large and well-shaped. Her high lacy collar looked uncomfortable in this morning’s heat, but no doubt it hid the wattles of old age, and the snowy hair beneath her hat looked smooth and abundant. As they stood before her on the straw mats spread before the platform, she smiled, revealing brown, even teeth.”

Ellen Calico Reckoner was born and raised on Touperdu. A decade ago, after the death of Saturnus Reckoner, and backed by the island militia (or “tricorns”), she stepped into his shoes and now rules the island with her husband’s ruthless logic and contempt for “weaklings.”