Summary

In a town called Armagon in the Coromandel, an alluvial region of East India, a young boy named Tony is raised by his amma, who works as a prostitute. The town becomes the location of a Dutch East India Company factory, but the riches that were promised to follow from this colonial arrangement never appear. After some time, Tony’s amma begins to be visited by a wealthy white member of the East India Company named Francis Day. Eventually, the factory at Armagon dries up, and Day brings Tony and his family with him to a town called Mylapore near São Tomé.

After moving to São Tomé, Day brings Tony to visit a fortune teller named Dona Mascarenha, who tells Day that he will discover a rich city in East India and informs Tony that he will travel the world...