Part 1, Section 7, "Norma Larragoiti" Summary

Even as a teenager, Norma knew how to make men fall for her, and she wisely recognized that her looks were her chief asset in life, and used them to take her far. After an initial flirtation with a young poet, Rodrigo Pola, she decided she didn't want to be trapped in a life of poverty with him. Their kiss in a 'kitchen garden' later filled her with contempt, when she realized other men were able to take her to lavish haciendas (ranch estates). Vowing to not only own the finest luxuries that Mexico could offer, (gold and elegance) but also to be that very luxury, she ends up disowning her own mother (a dark skinned Indian woman) and devoting herself to marrying wealthy. Naturally she plans to be generous to them, after she's landed...