When the Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861 to form their own nation with Jefferson Davis as President, his wife Varina became the second first lady of the land, for the first and only time in American history. It was a position she accepted with dismay and held for almost the same length of time as her Union counterpart, Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln is well remembered by history, but Mrs. Davis seems to be forgotten. This film tells Mrs. Davis’ story from her own perspective in the form of a dramatized conversation held in New York City in 1901, the 40th anniversary of the Civil War. A compelling memoir of an unusual life, it includes her take on secession, slavery, and war; reconciliation; financial difficulties; family life and loss; and pursuing a writing career in New York after Jefferson’s death.