On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to take a rugby team to Chile, crashes into a glacier in the heart of the Andes.
Roque starts University in Buenos Aires but he is not particularly interested in attending classes or working towards a degree. Instead, he dedicates his time to one of the many groups vying for control of the university, motivated less by grand political ideals than by a wish to get close to Paula, an attractive young teacher heavily involved in internal university politics.
A married man's death puts his widow and mistress in an unusual living arrangement.
