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...

Early 18th-century men who settled in the French colony of La Louisiane, in the Americas, are desperate for wives from their home country, France. The Superioress of La Salpetriere, a Parisian institution that serves as a women's hospital, prison, and orphanage, is instructed to provide a list to government authorities of fertile and obedient young women to send to Louisiana as potential brides. Petronille, Genevieve, and Charlotte are among the 90...

Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Her mother has just passed away, her brother is newly married, and now that the Great War is over, she has been asked to give up managing the estate she helped to run when the men all joined the army. It is suggested to her that she become a governess. But first, she will act as caretaker to Mrs. Fog, an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside resort. Constance is soon swept up in the social whirl...

Twenty years ago a single block, deep in the suburbs, slipped into its own dimension, locked behind an inaccessible veil. Everyone was lost save for three girls who had returned to college the night before. Talitha, now 40, has never recovered from the trauma of that day, but when a researcher entices her back to try to make contact with her little sister, Talitha stops running from Brett, Grace, and their shared past in order to finally move forward...

Three Asian American teenagers meet in the New York suburbs in the 1980s. Drawn together by their shared sense of alienation from their conventionally domestic immigrant families, each wants to live a meaningful life. They envision a future defined by freedom and creativity, but on the brink of adulthood in New York City, their fortunes quickly diverge. Giselle Chin is a performance artist, pushing the boundaries of the form while socializing with...