The novel begins with a quote from one of Jefferson’s letters to Robert Walsh. Jefferson states the belief that a person’s correspondence holds the only true and genuine account of his life. 

Jefferson has just died. His daughter Patsy is engaged in sorting through his possessions. She reflects that the sons of a revolution give their lives to a cause, “[b]ut daughters … we sacrifice our eternal souls” (1). As Patsy continues sorting, Sally enters the room. Sally is the black half-sister of Patsy’s mother, and she has been Jefferson’s mistress for decades: “We stand, two aging matriarchs, amongst his books, scientific instruments, and a black marbled obelisk clock” (2). Sally announces that she’s taking Jefferson’s jeweled shoe buckle, an inkwell, and a pair of spectacles as mementos. She then leaves.

Patsy begins the task of burning papers that cast Jefferson is an unflattering light. She carries the burden of upholding her father’s legacy. He will be remembered exactly as he wanted to be: “I have stayed silent to avoid speaking the truth. What is one more silence when it preserves all we have sacrificed for?” (6).