The plot takes place in a fictional city called Vale do Café, where two powerful families, the Toledo and Fontes, are locked in an intense dispute for power and land ownership. Conflicts are marked by betrayals, forbidden loves and dark secrets. The soap opera addresses themes such as ambition, revenge, romance and conflicts between families, showing the fire that consumes the land and human relationships.

The soap opera follows the story of young Aurélia Camargo (Norma Blum), a girl who falls in love with the ambitious young journalist Fernando Seixas (Cláudio Marzo), who also falls in love with her, but rejects her when he receives an invitation to marry Adelaide (Fátima Freire), the daughter of Tavares do Amaral (Felipe Wagner), a wealthy banker. Feeling abandoned by her great love, Aurélia dreams of one day having him back. Until, when she turns 18, she is surprised with an inheritance from her grandfather, and becomes a very rich woman, allowing her to create her own rules for her life. However, for the society of the time, it was not good form for a woman to enjoy such independence. For this reason, Aurélia begins to rely on a distant relative, Dona Firmina Mascarenhas (Zilka Sallaberry), to act as her mother, and on the administrator Mr. Lemos (Alberto Perez), to guide her in business. So, she sees a great opportunity to have Fernando in her life again.

Saramandaia is a Brazilian telenovela originally written by Dias Gomes in 1976. It's considered remarkable because of the Magic Realism (used by the author to subtly criticize the Military Regime of the time) and had 160 chapters. The story centers on the name change that the city undergoes, promoted by the younger citizens and reviled by the older ones. It also focuses on the lives of the city's quirky residents.