It’s 1929 and we are in Florida at a Cuban–American cigar factory; cigars are still rolled by hand and “lectors” are hired to educate and entertain the workers. When a new lector enters the scene and begins to read aloud Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners and suddenly the lives of the workers begin to parallel the novel. Old traditions and new ways collide while longing, love, and betrayal spark a volatile flame that signals the end of an era.