Ixtepec is a small village that has survived the battering of the violent presence of revolutionary troops pitted against each other in a ceaseless, fratricidal fight. Its residents, disillusioned because the "revolution" brought them neither justice nor progress, lead dull, nostalgic lives that are fractured again in the face of a new armed conflict, the Cristero War, which promises further misfortune. The authorities have charged Francisco Rosas with maintaining order and carrying out the wishes of the central government, especially those relating to ending religious worship. The lives of General Rosas, his closest collaborators, and his lovers, along with the lives of the prostitutes, clergy, street dogs, madmen, and most well-known members of Ixtepec's powerful families become intertwined and led to a tragic destiny, where there is no room for dreams or love. This work, considered by many to be in the vein of magic realism, supports the strength of its storytelling with poetic devices which merely ...