Chomumbhar, a small republic on the Indian Ocean, is unknown to the rest of the world until President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive on a state visit to the island, in 1962. Chomumbhar's colonial past, its autocratic government, and its ensuing alliance with America over four decades mark the lives of its citizens. Muni, a young Untouchable housemaid who eagerly awaits the state visit; Li Li Loong, a seamstress who makes a dress that changes her life; Prime Minister Ferdinand D'Souza, the island's visionary leader who is blinded by ambition and dreams for his country; Father Daniel Sullivan, an American Jesuit following in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier; Mariel Vega, a beautiful Eurasian prostitute at the local US military base; and Alden Pyle, "The Quiet American," a CIA operative charged with seeding democracy in Vietnam and Chomumbhar.