At the turn of the century Theophile and Suzanne Valence sail into the Mexican copper-mining town of Santa Sofia. A natural perfectionist, Theo has come to build a metal church, designed by his mentor, the great engineer Gustave Eiffel. His wife Suzanne, in love, but wayward, graced with the gift of clairvoyance, has insisted on accompanying him. But the magical landscape in which she finds herself inspires no answering passion in Theo. In her loneliness she turns to the American gold prospector Wilson Pharoah, and soon he, like the town and its inhabitants, falls under her spell, an enchantment as seductive as Suzanne herself.
