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...

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law. Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh's paintings. They were all she had, and they weren't worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means...