Sandra Seehaver, a young coed at Central Michigan University, falls head over heels for Matthew Morgan Stewart, a fighter pilot in the US Air Force in the mid-1960s. But this relationship isn't typical: Sandra is white, and Matthew is black. They fall in love and tie the knot as husband and wife. Sandra becomes pregnant with their first child.
Then the Vietnam War comes into focus. Matthew is sent to Southeast Asia while Sandra is bearing their son. When it's believed he is killed, she holds on and gives birth to Matthew Morgan, Jr. She also confronts hates and division with her baby. When Matthew returns home, they have more children.
By 1978, Matthew Junior is eleven and discovers a world of his own, especially with Marcia Kozlowski, a sixteen-year-old who's a product of a black mother and Polish father. Her world is fragile by hate of both sides of her family.
