María Casta and her teenage son Edipio shelter from the lashing storm that occurs on the same day as the death of the old parish priest, Lubencio. Various events, such as the arrival of the new priest, the appearance of the first wardrobe with a mirror and the announcement of the outbreak of the Civil War determine life in the mining village of Peñafonte, isolated from the world in the incessant rains. An extraordinary novel mixing friendship, despair, boredom, disturbing questions and mirrors that lie to us.