I was surprised to love this book. It's a hard book to read--Louisiana plantation in 1860. It traces the racist undertones through three generations of white people--Madame Sylvie, who went from France to Haiti to Le Petit Cottage, her son Lucien, and his son Byron. Madame Sylvie wants to sit for a portrait, over the objections of her family, who see the way the plantation is losing money. No one has an easy life here, but you see the way racism gets in the way of doing things over and over again. Also, this book deals with some tough things. Almost anything you think about slavery is in here (violence, sexual assaults, the idea of people as property.) It's just...so so good.