In 1930, twenty-year-old Promise Mears Crawford finds herself trapped in an identity not of her making, betrothed to a man not of her choosing, and entwined in the aftermath of the first racial murder in twenty years on her island haven of Martonsville, Georgia.

When she discovers new truths about her family's complicated history, Promise presses beyond the choke hold of her own prejudice, past the boundaries of love and lies, to untangle the deceptions permeating her life and her community.

Years later, in Boston, Promise confesses the details of her struggle to ferret out her history amidst a culture of lofty idealism, family secrets, and the blackmail scheme that ultimately freed her to embrace a new identity.