A House Divided plot
Shortly after the horrific civil war that completely destroyed the South, Amanda America Dixon returns home to discover that she is the heiress to her late father's estate and cotton plantation. But the terrible secret that has been kept hidden all her life threatens to spoil her birthright, which her beloved father David has fought for for years. Amanda received a perfect "white" upbringing from her father and grandmother, but she discovers that her real mother is the black house slave Julia. Faced with greed and bigotry, Amanda discovers not only the hatred in a racist world, but also the truth of a family whose life is based on a lie.