Sienna Henderson and her eleven siblings come of age in dire poverty under a heavy-handed, overly-burdened but devoutly religious mother and a father caught up in his own personal struggles. Sienna determines to rise above her circumstances. At eighteen she finds love and the opportunity to escape the oppression of her painful childhood. Pregnant before high school graduation, she marries Joseph, a handsome and intelligent young Creole man. The bigotry...