Pheby Delores Brown, 17, lives on the Bell Plantation with her mother, Ruth. The two women are enslaved by Jacob Bell and his wife Delphina, the plantation owners. Delphina dislikes Ruth, a renowned healer and seamstress, and will not allow Ruth in the big house. When Ruth and Pheby learn that Rachel, one of the house servants, is sick, Ruth tries to use her medical knowledge to care for the woman, but Delphina refuses to allow Ruth to help until it is too late.

After Rachel’s death, Pheby is called to fill her place in the big house, caring for the pregnant Delphina. Delphina treats Pheby poorly. Jacob’s sister Sally taught Pheby how to read, write, and play piano, skills Delphina feels are unbefitting for an enslaved person. Pheby is called “high yella” by another house servant, indicating that she has a white father and Black mother.

Working in the big house is physically demanding and leaves Pheby with no time for herself. She sleeps in a small closet at the entrance of Delphina’s bedroom. When she manages to sneak away to her mother’s room, she sees Jacob Bell with her mother. Pheby reveals that her father is Jacob Bell and that he frequently spends time with Ruth in her room.