Just when her family starts believing that she is dead and that they can expect a rich heritage, Tieta returns from São Paulo to her native village in Bahia, which she had been forced to leave long ago because of her involvement with a goatherd. Believed to be fabulously rich--and nobody knows how--she brings, to the great disappointment of her family, a young stepdaughter and heir. With the arrival of Tieta, turmoil enters the life of her family and their fellow villagers, most particularly those of her nephew who was promised to the Church, and the young aspiring mayor.