Summary

The novel spans about fifty years in the history of a nation, family and love affair. Set in a neighborhood of Puebla in Mexico City, the story is of Emilia Sauri, a young woman who is in love with two very different men. One of the men Daniel, is an activist whose frequent partings for the civil war leave Emilia feeling abandoned yet even more enthusiastic. The other man Antonio, is a stable and devoted doctor who helps her realize her own gift for healing. As Emilia must sort though the affairs of her heart, so must she confront the fate history presents- a nation wrecked by civil war and a society awakening to the beginning of the twentieth century.