In 1923 fourteen-year-old Perfecta Trujillo makes the decision she won't be perfect any more. After she stands up to her father, the sheriff of Tierra Amarilla, she is sure she made the right decision. But what now? Her mother never leaves the rocking chair at the front window and her father ignores her. Surely even their harsh Catholic God doesn't think that dancing, smiling and laughing are sins? But even Perfecta knows that falling in love with the blue-eyed Presbyterian, Isaac Martinez, is a sin. When Isaac leaves for California she promises to wait for him. Has she escaped one prison only to be trapped by another?