The moving novel from the multi-million-bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and The Japanese Lover Irene Beltran is a force to be reckoned with. As a magazine journalist - an unusual profession for a woman with her privileged upbringing - she is constantly challenging the oppressive regime. Her investigative partner is photographer Francisco Leal, the son of impoverished Spanish Marxist emigres. They are an inseparable team, and - despite Irene's engagement to an army captain - form a passionate connection. When an assignment leads them to uncover an unspeakable crime, they are determined to reveal the truth in a national overrun by terror and violence. Together they will risk everything for justice - and ultimately to embrace the passion that binds them.