Luis Bernardo Valenca, a 37 year-old bachelor and owner of a small shipping company, is reveling in Lisbon's luxurious high society. King Dom Carlos invites him to become governor of Portugal's smallest colony, São Tomé e Principe.

It is 1905 and Luis Bernardo Valenca, a thirty-seven-year-old bachelor and owner of a small shipping company, is reveling in Lisbon's luxurious high society. But his life is turned upside down when King Dom Carlos invites him to become governor of Portugal's smallest colony, the island of São Tomé e Principe.—João Ferreira