When a white couple gives birth to a baby with distinctly black features, a family is thrown into turmoil. Hugh Clarke, born into a pedigreed New England family that can trace its roots to the Mayflower, devotes his professional life to championing minorities but is blindsided by his daughter's color. He urges his wife Dana, whose heritage is unknown, to start digging for answers. Dana adores her baby and resents her husband's demands. Unearthing her family's past raises issues for her that go well beyond that of her daughter's racial mix.

Hugh's father, Eaton Clarke, a renowned writer, anxiously awaits the results of Dana's search. Eaton is weeks away from releasing a book based on his well-documented Family Tree, and will be discredited as an historian if the very foundation of his book is undermined. To make matters worse, his wife, Dorothy, is taking an uncharacteristically independent stand with regard to their newest granddaughter. Family Tree delves into issues of trust, honesty, privilege, and identity. It debates the way we define ourselves, and explores the duplicity of political correctness and personal prejudice.