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Tab and Tina, relatives of a founder of Ku Klux Klan, are whisked away to an interracial Civil Rights school one summer. There, they befriend both a black polio patient and the biracial daughter of a Yankee and a Civil Rights leader. Can the girls be saved from the racist traditions of their Alabama family?

The strkingly beautiful and daringly bold Siena McMahon wants to be a movie star like her legendary grandfather. Her bigshot producer father, however, wants her to be a doctor. But Siena is her own woman, and she's determined to live life on her own terms. So she strikes a chord for independence, finding success as a model, exploring her decadent taste for the opposite sex, and striving to become the biggest starlet in tinseltown.

Under the sprawling branches of the ancient man-fig tree in the town square, the gossiby men of Thornham relax and spin colorful yarns for each other's amusements. There, reputations are established or sullied, and local rumors of all kinds are passed on and contested. Though they don't show it, they are effectively weaving a folk history of their own town and of the Old South.

In swampy Tiger Island, Louisiana, lifelong residents and newlyweds Paul and Colett Thibodeaux are struggling to make their relationship work. A talented machinist, Paul savors the simple life--but Colette longs for more. The life she sees around her is just too familiar, run-down and depressing. When the levee finally breaks, she skips town for California. What will it take for Colette to see the good in her life?

Nina and her brother Andrew share a strong bond: during childhood, they helped each other survive the cruelty of their physician father. Their mother has not fared so well: she is a drunken byproduct of domestic mythology. Now Nina, a reclusive editor, has sealed herself off from the world since her husband's accidental death, while her brother is busy locating and seducing women he knew in high school.

Easter is a devout Pentecostal, while Anneth is headstrong and restless. The two live in the heart of coal mining country, surrounded by the ghosts of their loved ones. One night, Easter meets El, the man that will become her husband. But their marriage drives a wedge between the sisters and soon Anneth heads to Nashville with a new husband of her own. As time passes, the two sisters struggle to forgive past transgressions, and love one another despite their differences.

Ellen Marshall is in her second marriage, now the mother of a 12-year-old son with her first husband Franklin and a four-year-old daughter with her current husband John. Ellen is growing tired of John's constant need for everyone's reassurance. Having left Franklin for his rigidity and domineering attitude, Ellen realizes she may have traded one set of imperfections for another.

Young Irish American Saul Sullivan marries a beautiful Cherokee woman named Vine. As a mixed race couple, they weather a storm of prejudice, but eventually find acceptance with Saul's family. Then Saul must move away to another country for a year to find work. Taking advantage of his absence, Aaron, Saul's jealous younger brother, begins to make unwanted advances on Vine. The tragic violence to come will change all of their lives forever.

Chinese-American Carnegie Wong and his WASPy wife Blondie have two adopted children of Asian descent, Lilly and Wendy. The girls are a handful, but they are nothing compared to Carnegie's mother. Mama Wong's dislike for Blondie is relentless--so much so that she introduces a Chinese woman named Lan to the household. When Lilly and Wendy begin to favor Lan over their white mother, Blondie clings ever more tightly to her biological son, Bailey.

Lil Olive, the leader of a group of feisty elderly women, decides that she is restless at the Rosehaven nursing home. Lil and her friends need some excitement in their dull lives. So, the group of women steal a car and hit the road in search of adventures, which include hilariously unforgettable trips to the local CVS and Hardee's, and end with an encounter with the law.