Wouldn't you love to trace your family history from start to finish? The leading lady of the book, Elizabeth does just that. Elizabeth, newly out of a job, is unexpectedly given the job of delivering a piece of history, a box of photos given to her by an elderly black man, to the wife of the photographer of the photos, who is white. The book wavers back and forth between the past time of slavery, the Detroit riots of the 60's, and modern day Detroit. As a black woman it became very obvious to me early in the book that this is essentially a love story from generation to generation to generation between the white women of the Balsam family line and a central black male character in each time period. The setting is superb in giving you the perfect experience of the time period it represents. Interestingly, this is a history lesson and a love story all wrapped up in one.