Depicting the horrible living conditions in Spain in the wake of World War II, this Dickensian novel follows the fortunes of Juana, a young girl who rejects the poverty and grueling labor in her country village and heads to Barcelona to find a better life. She soon realizes, however, that conditions in the city are just as crushing and in short order she is thrown out of a boarding house, finds a job at textile factory that pays barely enough to eat, and is badly treated by two men. Grieving over the loss of her dreams, Juana vows to trust only herself for survival is this stirring story of the redeeming power of love.