Book excerpt: It is 1937 in Jamaica. Raised by an oppressive father deep in the countryside, Linton McMann toils in a rum distillery. Meanwhile, in Kingston, Daisy Wellstead encounters misfortune, trapped in an unhappy marriage. Seeking a new life they immigrate to the United States where they meet in New York, fall in love and start a family. Ambition drives them to start a business, selling roots tonic, a drink that Linton learned to make in Jamaica. By 1986, the drink is a sensation. Money flows in, but something is missing. Happiness is as scarce as freshwater in the middle of the sea. Wrestling with their past while living in a land of plenty, Linton and Daisy discover that truth is the only avenue to happiness.