When Nick and Vanessa were in their teens they were sweethearts. But their families didn't get on, and the youngsters quarrelled and went their separate ways.

Fifteen years later they are reunited. An uncle has died and they are his only heirs. He has left them something strange. It looks like a nondescript old jar, but they feel it has extraordinary powers. They learn that it's more than flotsam; it holds a message and a task

Three hundred years before, raiders had attacked a Gambian village, searching for slaves. A girl, her family and her friends were taken and their homes burnt. They were shackled, branded, and driven onto a ship heading for the American plantantions. They never made it. A storm blew up, the ship foundered, and everyone on board was lost. Or not quite. The God Jar was rolling in the ocean when it bumped into the wrecked ship, and it felt the pain of those who perished. Humanity had forgotten them, but the jar demands they be remembered.

This is the mission the jar has for Nick and Vanessa. It's an obligation neither wants, but they can't refuse it, and it leads them to places they could never imagine.

Join them as they unravel the chain of names.