It’s 1882 and the Gilded Age is in full swing when Marian Brook, a young orphaned daughter of a Southern general, moves in with her rigidly conventional aunts in New York City. With the help of Peggy Scott, an African-American woman masquerading as her maid, Marian gets caught up in the dazzling lives of her rich neighbors as she struggles to decide between adhering to the rules or forging her own path.

When Sue's cousin Genelva visits her from Suriname, they go out to a fancy club with Sue's two best friends. After having an unpleasant encounter with the club's bouncer at the door, the course of their night changes completely.

A forlorn teenager abandoned in New York City spirals out of control, from a troubled kid to an accidental addict, after he mistakes the welcoming embrace of a Lower East Side drug dealer for the love of family.