A Dawn of Promise tells the story of a young Danish girl who travels from Copenhagen, Denmark to St. Thomas, the Danish West Indies with her mother and brother. Her father is right hand man to Governor Peter Von Scholten who is struggling to maintain a peaceful existence though the winds of freedom for the slaves are swirling in the Caribbean and threatening the plantation society. Karen befriends Makeda, a servant girl of her age and becomes caught up in the events which lead to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1848 and the freeing of the slaves in the Danish West Indies. Karen finds herself torn between her loyalty to her Danish heritage and her new found love and respect for the slave population in their quest for freedom.