Adeline runs a boarding house owned by her longtime romantic partner, Joe, and Joe’s brother, Louis. Adeline grew up as enslaved woman, came to freedom, and is now a savvy business owner whose home is full with guests most days of the year.

When the epidemic hits, Adeline finds herself in a precarious business situation as the cancellations roll in. Due to her race, she cannot evacuate with Joe across Lake Pontchartrain, and with him gone, and her business empty, the days are long.

Her correspondence at this time includes letters to Joe and her private thoughts.

“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in our history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” 
- Albert Camus, The Plague