In New Haven in 1901, 18-year-old Portia Washington sneaks out to see her father--the great Booker T. Washington--greet President Teddy Roosevelt but then falls ill. Coming to her aid is Teddy's daughter, Alice, who brings Portia to her hotel room to recover and, despite some awkward moments, the two bond over their motherlessness. Thus begins a lifelong friendship. Portia eventually spends time in Germany studying music, and returns to Tuskegee to...

The daughters of one of England's most famous portrait artists of the 1700s, Peggy and Molly Gainsborough are inseparable due to Molly's bouts of mental confusion, and as Peggy goes to great lengths to protect her sister's secret, she falls in love with a charming composer, which sparks the bitterest of betrayals.