This is a novel about Abilene Painter, a young woman with a drab Texas past whose fate leads her to Mexico. Here she becomes the mistress of a powerful bullfighter and rancher, Antonio Velez. Abilene is a study in the pathology of passivity, a woman who has never thought she's had real choices. She toys with risk, playing games with men who belong to Tonio. It is also 1968, a time of student uprisings and massive demonstrations in Mexico City. Abilene, seduced by the danger, walks a fine line.