You're probably thinking how can a wealthy, caucassion girl be chained when she isn't even a slave? Well, you see Mary might not have chains wrapped around her, but instead, she is chained to a life that we all would dread. After the death of her mother, her father became bankrupt, but he still kept up with the charade because he was too proud to show the world how miserable his life has become. He sells her off to marry a man that possesses no morals, on her sixteenth birthday. He finds glory out of abusing his slaves and humiliating them and he sees women as mere sex objects and cooks to satisfy his lustful needs. When Mary arrives in Virginia, to be with her fiancé, she believes that all hope is lost until she sets eyes on a nineteen-year-old stable boy, named Walter. This African-American is one of many of her fiancé's slaves, so what will happen if he finds out about the love that will blossom between the two? If he does indeed find out about this unlawful secret, Walter will be executed and Mary will be shunned and be labelled as a tart. So what is Mary going to do?