"As the Laurentia makes her stately passage across the gray Atlantic, the passengers are left to their own devices to fill the thirteen days until they reach England's shores. They will form alliances, make enemies, negotiate deals, and swindle, seduce, and betray one another - all while upholding the strictest standards of nineteenth-century decorum." "Tbe diverse passenger list includes: Arthur and Olivia Crighton - a middle-aged businessman and his beautiful, much younger wife, a couple trying to believe that they are happy. The Reverend Stibbards - a clergyman with an unusually secular appreciation of the female passengers. Mrs. Stewart - a widow of obvious charms but rather uncertain means. Charles Stuart - a black entertainer, held prisoner in his cabin, hoping to find tolerance in the great capitals of Europe. Major Cutler - a bigoted card player with a loaded pistol at his side. John Bonney - a mysterious young man, standing at the rail in all weather, his eyes never leaving the receding American shore." "But people are rarely what they seem..."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved