In the 1950's poet Christopher Chubb teaches Australia a lesson about pretension when he composes a body of sexually charged poems, then dupes a trendy literary magazine into believing the poems were written by the late Bob McCorkle, an undiscovered genius. But the trick backfires, and soon Chubb finds himself tormented by the very monster he creates. Decades later a literary editor named Sarah Wode-Douglass begins peeling back the layers of the Chubb mystery in of all places, Malaysia--where the reclusive poet remains in hiding.