Joseph is a reggae superstar, admired by his musical peers and adored by women wherever he goes. But Joseph is also a devout, herb-smoking Rastafarian who dreams of a new life in Ethiopia. Sister Ashanti tells of Joseph's rise to international stardom, his stormy relationship with the beautiful and passionate Zueleika, his uneasy truce with the press and in particular the intrusive American journalist Sam Bergman. But for all his peaceable Rasta way of life, in certain quarters Joseph is seen as a threat. The concert that is to seal the Peace, ending gang warfare in Kingston, instead ends in the terrible moment when Joseph is shot on stage. Ashanti and her husband Peter are spirited away to Miami and Cuba, not knowing if Joseph is alive or dead, until after many adventures, the friends find themselves reunited in Shashemane and in the mystical Emmanuel.