Following the demise of bloodthirsty buccaneer Captain Flint, young Jim Hawkins finds himself with the key to a fortune. For he has discovered a map that will lead him to the fabled Treasure Island. But a host of villains and deadly savages stand between him and the stash of gold. Not to mention the most infamous pirate ever to sail the high seas.

Unlike other cygnets, Louis, the trumpeter swan, cannot utter a sound. But with the encouragement of his father, Louis sets out to overcome his problem. Louis goes to school and learns to read and write, but when he returns to the lakes and falls in love with beautiful Serena, he is upset that Serena can't read his sign, which says 'I love you'.

Scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery, this novel is peopled with some of memorable characters (the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy). It combines the elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama.