CUBA 1895—In the troubled island of Cuba, Spain’s most prized colony, Cuban patriots have called for an all-out insurrection to end four centuries of Spanish rule.
On a farm in the central province of Las Villas, MarÃa Teresa Velázquez approaches her nineteenth birthday eager for a different life. Within weeks, her life changes when the war begins, as she and her family are herded into filthy military concentration camps where thousands will ultimately die. After a violent confrontation with a Spanish officer who tries to rape her, she runs from the camp, and becomes a fugitive of the Spanish authorities. Lost for days in the bush, she finds sanctuary in the home of a patriot family. There, however, unsuspecting, an even greater peril awaits her, and she will again face mortal danger.
Francisco ‘Paco’ Borrell, scion of an established Havana family, struggles to find a career path in the uncertainty of the looming war. At first, he hesitates to join the insurrection. However, Perfecto Lacoste, the leader of the Havana rebel underground, aware of his patriotic sympathies, persuades him to deliver a top-secret message to Dr. Paul Carbonne, the rebel agent in the southern port of city of Cienfuegos — a mission that could either get him garroted for treason, or, if successful, could change the course of the war and his life.
The fast-moving story will bring MarÃa Teresa and Paco together as they forge a powerful bond that will sustain them through the trials of the war and beyond.