Carol, a 12-year-old Spanish-American girl from New York, travels with her mother to Spain in the spring of 1938, at the height of the Spanish Civil War. Separated from her beloved father, she arrives in her mother's home village and transforms the secretive family environment. Her innocence and rebellious nature drive her at first to reject a world that is both new and foreign. But she soon journeys into adulthood through a friendship with the village...