An intense psychological novel, this book focuses on a young woman's dependence on her husband and her attempts to forge an independent life for herself. Rosa, a frail, sensitive American Jew living in Paris, marries an alcoholic expatriate from Chile and finds herself trapped in a sadomasochistic relationship. Amid a series of fast-moving events?the birth of their daughter, moving to Rosa's parents' home and then to Sausalito, California, and various sexual encounters?this narrative explores Antonio's fears and failures as well as Rosa's implicit trust in him to direct her life. Ultimately, Rosa begins to question her relationship with her husband and her parents.