A young Indian girl, Zia, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the Mission, is helped by her aunt Karana whose story was told in the Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Deeply attached to the charming and carefree Francis Bernardone, Cecilia, a young noblewoman of Assisi, watches as he turns from his life of wealth and privilege, takes vows of poverty, and devotes himself to serving God by helping all those around him.

As part of a Spanish expedition to the New World, a Jesuit seminarian witnesses the enslavement and exploitation of the Mayas and his own seduction by greed and ambition.