Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

When Suzanne arrives at Ohio State University in 1949 as one of a handful of Black freshmen, she discovers the "safe haven" of academia offers little sanctuary. Decades later, the accomplished writer returns to her alma mater to speak about her work—and unravels the heartbreaking truth and chilling mystery of her life lived in the shadows.