very attractive and talented Creole woman named Henriette Delille, who chose the rigors of convent life over a very comfortable placage with a wealthy white benefactor who could gave her the world if she wants it. She saw the evil in placage and didn't want any part of it because it would be against God's law against living in sin. She seen it firsthand with her parents. Her father wanted out of it so he could marry a white woman in order to have legitimate offspring while her mother slowly goes insane not only of her lover's abandonment but also of her daughter's refusal to follow her footsteps in taking a white lover without being married. All her life, Henriette deLille devoted her life to helping the poor and enslaved of Louisiana, even going against the authorities to do so. It's not an easy life to live but it's a purposeful one. One that emphasize a life of service and devotion to spiritual matters. Vanessa L. Williams has done a great job in portraying Henriette Delille.