'I have no idea how long I have been incarcerated in these ancient walls . . . Let me explain how I find myself in this predicament . . .'
Set in the hot houses of a stately home in eighteenth-century England, a gardener falls from grace when the Duke sets him the impossible task of growing prize pineapples fit to show off in high society.
The gardener's star falls further when he is replaced by Mr Amicus, a pineapple 'specialist', whom he believes to be a charlatan and a trickster - but nevertheless miraculously produces fruit to delight the Duke.
Determined to uncover Mr Amicus's tricks, the gardener sneaks into the pineapple house to uncover the mysterious shrouded birdcage Mr Amicus carries with him. And what he finds changes his life for ever . . .