Synopsis

In the spring of 1938 Carol, a twelve-year-old Spanish-American girl who was raised in New York, travels to Spain with her sick mother who, without telling her family, has decided to die in her native country. The Spanish Civil War is at its height and, separated from the father she adores, a pilot in the International Brigades sustained by Hitler and Mussolini in the battle against Franco, Carol goes to live in her mother's home village, where she discovers a totally new world. Her mother’s sister is extremely religious and severe. Her husband, abandoned by Carol’s mother twelve years earlier, is a Francoist avid for power. Carol’s three young friends are poor but courageous: their leader is Tomiche, with whom she soon falls in love. Then there is her mother’s friend and village teacher, the affectionate Maruja, and the liberal and understanding grandfather. When her mother dies, Carol goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle, but she refuses to obey their rules and soon returns to her Grandfather. In the meantime the war ends in victory for Franco and one evening Carol’s father returns to the grandfather’s home. But the girl’s happiness lasts for just one night. The following morning the Uncle comes to search the house and her father, guided by Tomiche, is forced to flee along the river.