The youngest daughter of a rich man has been raped by five black men in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, and her father arranges her marriage to one of his employees in order to save the family’s honor.
Glorinha, a middle-class 15 year old girl, always thought her mother Judite had killed herself, and that her father Gilberto has gone crazy as result. Her friend Nair takes her to a high-class bordello, where she wants to work. When uncle Raul, who raised her, discovers her prostitution, he decides to finally tell her all the truth about her parents' story.
A great mystery surrounds Leonora, and it becomes even more mysterious when a stranger arrives from Buenos Aires looking for her, saying he knows her. In love with her, he is desperate when they say she is dead. Not believing what they say, he continues his search. But upon finding her, he is faced with a cruel and unexpected enigma.
