Lauri Beaudine is the daughter of Jules Beaudine, a famous Shakespearean actor of the 90's. Her mother died when she was small, and she has been raised by her mother's sister, Aunt Judith, an extremely strict person who hates everything to do with the theater. She is especially opposed to Lauri's ambition to become a famous actress. At the opening of the story Lauri is ready to rebel.

In the mid 1890's, Jules Beaudine's company is playing in New York, and Lauri goes backstage to see him and persuade him to take her away from her aunt. He is planning a trip to the city of his birth, New Orleans, decides to take Lauri along, and they arrive some weeks before Carnival time.

In the gracious home of the Drummonds, Lauri meets Cole Drummond, a young man who is apparently having some mysterious disagreement with his father. She also makes friends with her Creole grandmother, and visits her home in the old French Quarter, the Vieux Carre, and in doing so finds her "roots" and a sense of family. A warm friendship develops between Lauri and Grand-mere 'Toinette and a deep love between Laure and Cole.

This is the story of a girl who, after discovering that she was after the wrong goal, eventually finds what she is really seeking.