Affluent Lala and impoverished Guayi, her Paraguayan maid, are determined to pursue their romance despite overwhelming disparities in class and status. Although they have plotted a future together near Paraguay's Ypacaraí Lake, Guayi's native region, a shocking discovery and an even more shocking reaction lead Lala to depart without her disappeared lover. As she ventures by bus far from her privileged Buenos Aires home, Lala delves into Guayi's past, in due time encountering the disturbing legend of the fish boy who is said to guide drowning victims to the bottom of the lake. By turns sordid, thrilling, and comic, Puenzo's debut novel explores the character and choices of two strong-willed young women through the vehicle of the economic and social circumstances of two South American nations where archaic elements coexist with shrill modernity.