Anaisa, a 12-year-old girl, wants to become a tile painter like her father. On the eve of the Lisbon Earthquake, she learns that her family is crypto-Jewish, and she feels torn between the culture she grew up in and her cultural heritage. During the catastrophe, Anaisa rescues a Hebrew Bible and, to protect it from the greed and religious intolerance around her, she must leave her country for a land where she can continue her family tradition and fulfill her dream.