<p><i>¿You must not become too friendly with them,¿ she said. ¿They are not the same as us.¿<br>¿How?¿ I asked. ¿How are they not the same?¿<br><br></i>When seven-year-old Irish orphan Lavinia is transported to Virginia to work in the kitchen of a wealthy plantation owner, she is absorbed into the life of the kitchen house and becomes part of the family of black slaves whose fates are tied to the plantation. <br><br>But Lavinia¿s skin will always set her apart, whether she wishes it or not. And as she grows older, she will be torn between the life that awaits her as a white woman and the people she knows as kin¿<br><br><i>A compelling, powerful and poignant coming-of-age story about the fragility of family,</i><i>and where love and loyalty prevail.</i></p>