Fleeing the gathering storm-clouds of war in 1939, a party of British debutantes are shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island where they meet a distinguished French scientist claiming descent from the Marquis de Sade. But who is the Marquis de Sade? And what devils brew is his great-grandson cooking far from the eyes of the world? Does he mean to use his beautiful and not wholly unexpected young guests as ingredients?