Passage Oak

High above the coast of Cornwall a remarkable tree dominates the woodland. It stands out because it is immense, larger than any other tree. Down the ages, it has served as a landmark for thieves and smugglers, lovers and outlaws.

In the small village beside the harbor below, there are plenty of such people, all types, who will do do anything for profit because their livelihoods are threatened. With tin mines closing and the fish disappearing, the community has developed a rather obsessive dread of anything that stands out, that doesn’t fit the mold.

And Emilia definitely stands out. She is young, blue-eyed and beautiful, but isolated from almost everyone because she is a mulatto. Just how she came to live in a village of fishermen and miners is a tale in itself, but she is not the only stranger. The chaos in Europe has unmoored all sorts of people, some seeking refuge from the terror of the French Revolution, others escaping religious persecution, even a stranger running from a charge of murder.

Imagine this motley assortment of people seeking to build new lives in one hard-pressed fishing village.