Central to the novel’s events are the social and political changes taking place in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, located in modern-day Haiti. The novel opens in the 1770s, when Saint-Domingue was France’s most profitable colony, producing a variety of goods for export around the world, most notably sugarcane but also cocoa, coffee, and indigo. The economy was based on a system of slavery, with European enslavers bringing tens of thousands of captive African people to the Caribbean island each year to engage in forced labor. Due to widespread diseases, strenuous working conditions, and the brutality of the enslavers, many of these enslaved people died within a few short years of arriving in Saint-Domingue.

Several distinct social classes emerged, based on economic and racial divisions. The grand blancs, or rich whites, were aristocratic French citizens who owned the sugar plantations; many hoped to turn a quick profit before returning to France. The petits blancs, or poor whites, included merchants, tradespeople, and overseers. A third category included free people of color, also known as the affranchis, many of whom shared European and African ancestry. Though these people were not enslaved, they notably lacked political rights and were limited in their career choices.