An adaptation of the novel with the same name by José Lins do Rego, including elements of other books by the writer in the so-called sugar cane cycle. In Paraíba in 1920, a little boy called Carlinhos is sent to Santa Rosa after his mother dies, so that his grandfather and uncles can bring him up. There, he witnesses the arrival of a new era, with the advent of modern sugar factories and the socio-economic transformations that brings, which affect everyone’s lives. When he grows up and goes to school, he is no longer the innocent boy he was when he arrived in the community.