Nady is a slave whose gift in song gives her favor with her Master and access to perform before the most elite dignitaries throughout all of the South. Unlike any other, she is taught to sing in French and Italian, making her the most talked about slave in all of Wilmington, North Carolina. Her exceptional talent and beauty makes her one of the admired and hated slaves of her time.
From an early age, Nady's main duty was to sing her Master's son, Mattie McCullen Jr. to sleep every night. Over the years, Mattie and Nady fall in love, but are forced to keep their feelings for each other a secret, especially from Mattie's mother Miss Elizabeth, whose disdain for the slaves of McCullen plantation threatens the lives of the ones Nady holds dear.
Mattie and Nady's out of time love leads him to the Civil War and Nady down a long road of keeping secrets of love, rape, adultery, and ultimately murder as she continues to sing her life's song, a Lullaby whispered through the night.