In the voice of a young woman in search of her roots in 19th-century Chile, Isabel Allende's historical novel about memory and family secrets continues the story begun in Daughter of Fortune. Aurora del Valle suffers a brutal trauma that shapes her character and erases from her mind all recollection of the first five years of her life. Raised by her iron-willed grandmother Paulina del Valle, she grows up in a privileged environment, yet is tormented by horrible nightmares. It is when she is betrayed by the man she loves that Aurora decides to explore the mystery of her past.