This is a tale of passion, intrigue, and becoming a witness to history of Clare, who forsakes her life of privilege, eloping with a man she hardly knew, following him to Panama in the midst of the tensions over the Canal in Panama and the civil war in Nicaragua. Flaunting her money, and her beauty, while insisting that she be taken seriously as a woman of means, and brilliance, Clare's flamboyant behavior endangered her husband, charismatic and mysterious Kurt Retten, who was playing a dangerous—and secret—part in the events that led to the overthrow of Somoza, and the near war in Panama.