Growing up in Basque Country, an autonomous community in northern Spain, Iciar is trying to have a normal childhood in the midst of mounting political conflict. When the Spanish Civil War begins, Iciar and her family are unwillingly thrown into the middle of the conflict. Her parents are afraid of being labeled Basque nationalists, so they send Iciar to a Roman Catholic boarding school, where she must contend with strict disciplinarians and separation from her friends.