With his previous novels, Francisco Goldman has reaped immense acclaim and established himself as an American voice of vital importance. His third novel is a marvelous tale of great love, the soul of the Americas and the birth of the modern spirit, set in the convents, ballrooms, and coffee plantations of late-nineteenth-century Central America and the docks, rooming houses, and stately Fifth Avenue addresses of New York. When we meet María de las Nieves Moran, she is a bookish and dreamy novice nun-until the country's new ruler closes the convents. What will be her fate in the secular world? When María de las Nieves enrolls in a writing class under José Martí, her life is transformed by the brilliant poet and hero of Cuban independence, whose year in that Central American capital results in Latin America's most famous love poem. María de las Nieves's story unfolds among an unforgettable cast of characters striving for love or success. And when María de las Nieves departs for New York years later, young daughter in tow, she continues to evade the mystery of who, of her many suitors, is the girl's father, and what really happened between her and José Martí.