It is November of 1907 in Araguari, Brazil, a newborn lustily cries in her father's arms. As Maria, called Mariazinha when she is a child, begins to grow up, she wants nothing more than to disappear from her small town and life of poverty to meet new people and see different things. At the age of twelve, Maria gets her chance at a better life.She is offered a job as a nanny in Sao Paulo bids her family farewell, boards a train, and leaves Araguari forever. As she arrives in Sao Paulo's majestic train station, Maria can hardly believe her eyes. Amazed at the town's big homes with well-tended gardens, Maria meets her boss, Mrs. Aurea, and the children she will care for. As Maria tends to the children and grows more beautiful, she silently vows that one day, she too will have wealth and happiness without any idea that her destiny will come to match her dreams-that she will become Rosinha, a woman who would fall and rise again many times and who would be both a cabaret dancer suffering innumerable prejudices and an incredible figure still wandering through the memory of the people of Sao Pedro. The First Lady travels back in time to tell the fascinating life of a woman who must attempt to overcome an impoverished childhood and numerous struggles in order to realize her desires and experience one of the greatest loves ever.