Suddenly, in the opulent darkness of a neighborhood that was haunted by melancholy shadows, the dark red of bleeding sheets came into view. It is too late for Vitalina Varela; at this point, all she can do is wrap up her husband's business. She will not bemoan the misfortunes of others; instead, when confronted with jaded and defeated men, she makes the decision to reconstruct the memory of a sturdy shared house in Cape Verde, one blueprint at a time and one wall at a time, in order to combat the depressing reality of a life that could not be constructed in Portugal under a decent roof.