Romance and suspense combine at an 1874 Mardi Gras ball when 15-year-old Juliette Carondel meets her forbidden love, Union Private Roland Montgomery. Juliette narrates her dangerous courtship, echoing Romeo & Juliet's, while weaving together details of ballroom, wedding, and burial customs with a touch of voodoo. Juliette defies her family's prejudices and finds a way to live for love, not die for it