Against a background of war breaking out in Europe and the Mexican fiesta Day of Death, we are taken through one day in the life of Geoffrey Firmin, a British consul living in alcoholic disrepair and obscurity in a small southern Mexican town in 1939. The consul's self-destructive behaviour, perhaps a metaphor for a menaced civilization, is a source of perplexity and sadness to his nomadic, idealistic half-brother, Hugh, and his ex-wife, Yvonne, who has returned with hopes of healing Geoffrey and their broken marriage.

A soldier is assigned to guard the body of a man who was shot. During the night, he encounters a widow who is watching over the burial of her ex-husband.

Four stories: The encounter between a soldier and a widow in a cemetery. A woman arrives as a maid in an unknown city where she discovers love. Another woman is tasked with caring for her lecherous uncle on his deathbed. A young man gets into trouble with his girlfriend's family when she suggests opening up their relationship.