Macabéa has just moved to the big city after her aunt, who raised her, died. She gets a job as a typist and moves into a boarding house with three other women. In her spare time, she listens to a radio station called Time; on Sundays, she likes to ride the metro. Then she meets Olímpico, a northeasterner like herself, who has dreams of becoming a congressman.
Nhô Quim has only one dream in his life: to eat red meat. He meets Carula, a young woman anxious to get married, who promises him that in their wedding her father will kill him an ox. But, before that, Nhô Quim must pass a series of tests.
