"For ten years Guy Roland has lived without a past. His current life and name were given to him by his recently retired boss, Hutte, who welcomed him, a one-time client, into his detective agency. Guy makes full use of Hutte's files - directories, yearbooks, and papers of all kinds going back half a century - but leads to his former life are few. Could he really be that person in a photograph, a young man remembered by some as a South American attache?...

After being driven from their land by French colonial soldiers in 1909, Nour and his people, "the blue men" must search for a haven out of the desert that will shelter them. Interspersed with the story of Nour is the contemporary story of Lalla, a descendent of the blue men, who lives in Morocco and tries to stay true to the blood of her ancestors while experiencing life as a modern immigrant.

Obsessed with the idea of finding the Corsair treasure he heard about in his youth, Alexis L'Etang abandons his job and family, setting off on a quest that will take him from remote tropical islands to the hell of the First World War, and from a love affair with the elusive Ouma to a momentous confrontation with the search that has consumed his life.