'You must not become too friendly with them,' she said. 'They are not the same as us.' 'How?' I asked. 'How are they not the same?' When seven-year-old Irish orphan Lavinia is transported to Virginia to work in the kitchen of a wealthy plantation owner, she is absorbed into the life of the kitchen house and becomes part of the family of black slaves whose fates are tied to the plantation. But Lavinia's skin will always set her apart, whether she wishes it or not. And as she grows older, she will be torn between the life that awaits her as a white woman and the people she knows as kin. A compelling, powerful and poignant coming-of-age story about the fragility of family,and where love and loyalty prevail.