Welcome to Saint Augustine, Florida – 1897! The town is a top winter destination thanks to its large resorts such as Flagler’s Ponce de Leon and Alcazar, an assortment of other smaller hotels and inns, its pleasant temperate weather and proximity to the sea.Birdie Fairfax is a soft-spoken, multi-ethnic young woman who has just been hired on at the new Montclair hotel.

Despite her heritage, Birdie has always felt like an outsider among the whites, blacks and even the Dominicans in her family as well as in society.Only the racially colorblind Newt Phillips, a white gardener at the Montclair, truly loves and accepts Birdie for who she is. Unfortunately, social convention as well as the law in the South prohibit them from expressing their love openly and marrying, which eventually brings tragedy and heartbreak.

Birdie’s talents at sewing and needlework will facilitate her rise through the ranks in the Montclair and will help her survive the various hardships and adversities she’ll face over the ensuing decades.

Set against the opulent and colorful background of the Montclair, follow the lives of Birdie and her friends as they laugh, cry, dream and grow over the years.