Selena's ex-husband has left her in a strange land with a baby and two younger sisters to care for. It's hard for Spanish-speaking immigrants to get work, and Selena earns little from the crochet dolls and doilies she makes to sell. The middle sister, Celia, works in a hotel at a job she hates, but it pays the rent and puts food on the table. Pamela is still at school. The three came from the Dominican Republic in the hope of a better living in Antigua. But Antiguans are hostile to the immigrant community in their midst, seeing the newcomers as intruders come to steal away their jobs and their men folk. Only Pamela settles easily into the new life.