Charleston, South Carolina, 1995. Fifty-four-year-old Eleanor Miller, a scion of a wealthy family and widow of the extremely wealthy banker Emerson Miller, is extremely racist, harsh, and callous even with her three children. Eleanor, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past eight years following an accident, refuses to have black servants; however, even her white maids, unable to endure her offensive behavior, leave one after the other. Her daughter, Harriet, who has taken on her care, suffers as she realizes that her mother uses her as a servant. Her middle son, Ernest, is more tolerant and puts up with her, but the eldest, William, is in constant conflict with her. Until a young mulatto woman, Victoria, appears at her mansion, begging for work. Having no other choice, Eleanor accepts her on a trial basis. Victoria, a very special girl, gradually and in her own way, touches Mrs. Miller's stone heart, inadvertently revealing her very well-hidden secrets, which shock everyone around her. Even Mrs. Miller herself.