In 1958, Annie, a beautiful 22-year-old girl, is elected Miss Piscina. Her father, Silva Pais, is a man from the Salazar dictatorship and her mother is a futile woman. Mother and daughter have a difficult relationship. Raymond Quendoz, a diplomat, arrives in Lisbon to be posted at the Swiss Embassy. He meets Annie and they marry two years later. Meanwhile, Silva Pais is nominated by Salazar to be the new general director of PIDE. Annie, who doesn't share her father's political views, is outraged and worried at the same time. But an unexpected event trumps all that: her husband is posted to Havana, Cuba.