Sassy Janie Starks looks unlike to get anywhere in pre-Great War Easton, Florida, but lands the best colored catch, lively shopkeeper Joe Starks, who even becomes town mayor. However her refusal to oblige his expectations of decency turn love into bitterness. After his death, she prefers to enjoy ‘freedom’ again, with cocky outsider ‘Tea Cake’ as playmate, and not just at chess. They even face the risks of seasonal labor.