The novel is an ode to tolerance and liberation. It tells the story of a man whose passion led him to engage deeply in life.

In this award-winning novel, Miguel Delibes takes us to 16th century Spain, where Martin Luther's theses ignited a movement that divided the Roman Catholic Church. Born at a time of political and religious upheaval, the protagonist's life was marked by these historic changes. Despite a harsh upbringing, he became a successful merchant and joined the secret religious reform spreading in the Iberian Peninsula, the historical stronghold of the Catholic Church, and the horrifying actions of the Spanish Inquisition.

Through the tale of Salcedo, Delibes paints a vivid picture of this period in Spanish history and recreates the cultural and social atmosphere of Europe during an unforgettable era of religious oppression and historical transformation.