Boston, Massachusetts. 1979. The city is racked by racial violence over court-ordered busing to achieve school desegregation. Serena Fox, an African-American college student, takes a class on the history of racism and becomes captivated by the ideas and passion of David Walker, the militant 19th century Black abolitionist who was based in Boston.

is an interweaving of the real-life experiences of 10 young Americans – eight men and two women – whose lives were shaped and forever changed by the military draft during the Vietnam War.

Joe Bell was a celebrity—a popular tour guide at Elmwood Hall, a famous Gilded Age mansion in Rhode Island. But for the last 14 years, Joe has been in jail. It’s now 1986, and the world has forgotten about Joe Bell. But not Susanna Hatch. The young white law student believes Joe was framed by the FBI as part of its campaign against black militants in the turbulent Civil Rights era.

Alan Guthrie can’t believe his Irish-American good luck. The veteran slacker/stoner is about to marry a woman who inexplicably adores him and he has a chance to make a legitimate living at something he’s excited about. But Alan’s blissful and prosperous future is cast into doubt when Frankie White, his best man and former college roommate, stops by before the rehearsal dinner. At least he claims to be Frankie White. The problem is that the guy Alan knew in college was white. This man is black.

For years Cynthia Spalding has dreamed of being a mother. Now it’s about to happen. She and her husband, James, are preparing to fly to Guatemala to collect their new adopted baby daughter, Rosa. But on the eve of their departure, their car, parked on the street outside their house, is destroyed by fire.