The novel is divided into ten chapters. It starts with the wedding of one of the victims of the dictator. In the preamble, there are two godfathers [compadres] (two fathers, one who has baptized the other one son) who share their manuscripts about a fictitious community called Dolorosa Village, the finding of the original manuscript of Christopher Columbus, known as Columbus Journal; and about the apocalyptic predictions of the island. Then, continues the description of the priest of the community; followed by the life of the dictator of Dolorosa: his origin, his political tricks, and his repressive measures, the adventures of his centaurs, the extravagance of his wedding, his decadence, and his death. In the same way, the life of the hero is developed parallel to the dictator with all his vicissitudes and struggles against him. The novel continues with the desperation and exodus of the younger members of the community and the destruction almost of the whole island caused by a tsunami. Finally, it is closed with an epilogue where the two godparents make a scrutiny about the books written during the dictatorship.