Set in Cuba during the 1920s, this novel recounts the eventful life of a cabaret dancer named Rachel. The protagonist is an actress, a dancer, and a heartbreaker who takes readers on a guided tour through the different stages of her past, from the filthy theaters, cabarets, and circuses in which she debuted, to the mythical Alhambra Theater in which she reached the height of her career. In addition to Rachel's narrative, the voices of stagehands, journalists, friends, enemies, and gossips depict an accurate portrait of the customs during the Cuban belle époque.