Romance and suspense combine at an 1874 Mardi Gras ball when fifteen-year-old Juliette Carondel meets her forbidden love, Union Private Roland Montgomery. Juliette's narrative of her dangerous courtship weaves details of ballroom, wedding, and burial customs with a touch of voodoo, as Juliette defies her family's prejudices and finds a way to live for love, not die for it.