ItÕs 1929 and Rose, a rebellious and stunning white eighteen-year-old, takes to the streets of Harlem with her Negro housemaid, Tessie, feeling that her socialite parents care more about conceiving a baby boy to carry on the family name than they care about her. She falls helplessly in love with an up-and-coming Negro poet, Nathan Sykes, and the two dangerously explore each otherÕs vastly different worlds, hiding their escapades from RoseÕs conservative parents.