The story travels from Medellín to Manizales, from the early 1900s to the late 1980s. The story shows the growth of the family and the changes in Colombia for almost 100 years. There is old Colombia with horses and Indian porters to carry the family across the Andes mountains, and the elegant plaza with the Royal Palms planted by Don Alejandro and where serenateros come to court the daughter of the house. Children grow up and leave the Plaza, one of the sisters, a nun, her mind failing, comes back home. In the end, the plaza is a bus stop and the adobe walls of the villa are falling. Through it all Luisa, mother, sister, wife, grandmother observes changes in the church, in styles, and in the people she loves. The last half of the book consists of short stories, some humorous and some tragic, of the author's experiences including the many faces of marriage, uniquely Colombian witchcraft and apparitions. There is ultimately a picture of the violence that fi nally engulfed Colombia in kidnapping and death.