A hardworking laundress in rural Georgia, granddaughter of a slave, gives birth to a late love child, Ferolene Ann. In the early days of the Civil Rights movement in the American South, Ferolene dreams of life in a world beyond Tincup. A prophecy promises her a mysterious future blessing and leads her on a remarkable journey, while a local wise woman and a Vodun priest serve as guides in her discovery of a lost history and of a genealogy she had never imagined.