Three sisters, the children of a mixed couple - their father African American, their mother
white - choose different paths for adult fulfillment. Beautiful, fair-skinned Leana, who is
proficient, skillful, and talented at the piano, wants to become a concert pianist. Does she have
the fortitude to live a life alone, buffeted by incessant travel and stage appearances? Fresh from
the Conservatory at Oberlin College, will she instead pursue a career mentored by her African
American professor, who insists on a sexual relationship? What path does she finally choose?
Nicole, who views her dark skin as an impediment to success, is gratified when Bryn Mawr college
accepts her as a student, but she is dissatisfied by being tethered to a domineering high school
sweetheart. Does a new, meaningful life await her when she breaks away and begins a relationship
with an African American, both of them students at the University of Pennsylvania law school?
Together can they help other blacks overcome the legal disadvantages in a white society?
Can Danielle, the loving younger sister who wants nothing more than to help youngsters grow up
healthy and strong, overcome the loss of her first love? Martha's Vineyard beckons her and
engenders in her an extreme interest in the Native Americans, whose ancestors have lived on the
island for thousands of years. She, on the other hand, doesn't even know her grandparents, who
disowned her parents when they married. Does she find happiness when she marries a Native American and reconciles with her immediate ancestors?
When do the bluebirds sing? When all is right with the world? Or at least a microcosm of the
world.
