This is the story of forbidden, scandalous love that occurred in the middle of the 19th century. Fleeing hunger, the Irishwoman Irene O’Kelly travels to America to relatives who own a cotton plantation. In spite of the local aristocracy’s customs, she falls in love with the slave of her uncle—a mulatto named Alan. Irene is threatened with an inescapable disgrace, and her beloved faces death—but they fight desperately for their happiness...