Sethe is a former slave living on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio shortly after the American Civil War. An angry poltergeist terrorizes Sethe and her three children, causing her two sons to run away forever. Eight years later, Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives alone with her daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). Paul D. (Danny Glover), an old friend from Sweet Home, the plantations in the American South Sethe had escaped from years earlier, finds Sethe's home, where he drives off the angry spirit that inhabits it. Afterwards, Paul D. proposes that he should stay and Sethe responds favorably. Shortly after Paul D. moves in, a clean and seemingly mentally handicapped young woman (Thandie Newton) named Beloved finds her way into Sethe's yard and is taken in by her.