Allende provides a colourful glimpse into the life of a daring Spanish woman whose vital role has been forgotten by history ... Her heroine is driven both by her head and her heart. She is also powerfully governed by the relationships with the three men in her life. But this book is more than just a story about the woman behind the man. Allende's version of events sees Ines Suarez as the puppeteer pulling the strings of the influential men she's involved with. She is quick-witted, militarily astute and has a deep tmderstanding of"the enemy"

This is the story of a passionate, powerful woman that history forgot - told through the unique talent of the world's finest storyteller. In an age of savage expansion in the Americas, Ines Suarez's husband disappears to the New World. Escaping the stifling restrictions of sixteenthcentury Spain, Ines follows him into danger. Arriving to discover that her husband has been killed in battle, she is quickly thrown together with Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed conquistador Pizarro.Together they wage a terrible, ruthless war against the indigenous Indians of Chile - a struggle that will change Valdivia and his daring conquistadora forever ...