Christine Kornacki

Marie-Grace Gardner, a doctor's daughter who has just returned to her native New Orleans in 1853, makes friends with Cécile Rey, whose prosperous family are free people of color, and is persuaded to change places with her at separate Mardi Gras balls.

When Marie-Grace discovers a baby outside her father's office and a slave catcher claims the boy, she helps place him at a white orphanage where she becomes a volunteer, as her friendship with Cécile grows and she hears rumors of yellow fever.

Volunteering with her friend Cecile at a crowded New Orleans orphanage during the yellow fever epidemic of 1853, Marie-Grace discovers that it is not just the orphans who need help.

As the yellow fever epidemic continues to ravage New Orleans and the orphanages become more crowded, Marie-Grace and Cécile help with the orphans, until Marie-Grace learns that her Uncle Luc's fiancée, Mademoiselle Océane, has fallen ill.

Cécile is enjoying her older brother Armand's return from France and her growing friendship with Marie-Grace, with whom she volunteers at an orphanage, until the yellow fever epidemic theatening New Orleans strikes her own household.

A lyrical retelling of the birth of Christ, told as an adaptation of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," follows the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the angels' appearance to the shepherds, and the visit by the Wise Men.