The novel tells the brief life of Corinna Corrin (also called Rena), who is not only beautiful, but an intelligent, self-confident and gifted young woman. A natural performer, she has drawn admiring attention since childhood. Spoilt by indulgent parents, she grows up expecting to be at the centre of a world which will yield to her wishes and opinions. The one critical voice is her brother Spencer, who envies but nevertheless admires her. As a medical librarian, it is Spencer who continually refers to human biological evolution and our primitive beginnings to explain human behaviour as depicted in the story.
Snapshots from Rena's childhood show her to be bold, headstrong and adventurous. As she grows up, she develops the outlook that girls should be able to behave with the freedom of boys. When she decides to become an actress, her uncle Terry, a London gang leader, pulls strings to get her into drama school, where she meets gentle, intellectual Jamie Gregson, and they agree to co-habit. Corinna rejects his offer of marriage, believing marriage is a trap. Yet when she meets Derek Brennan, the son of Uncle Terry's lieutenant, she falls for him and they marry. Derek turns out to be controlling, treats her like a precious object, and keeps her imprisoned in his luxurious flat like a caged bird. When Spencer finally rescues her, she refuses to go back to Derek, who takes his own life.
Walking home alone after a night out with friends, Rena is abducted. Imprisoned in a basement room, she undergoes a brutal ordeal of rape and beatings. Her kidnapper seems uninterested in a ransom, only in keeping her as his sexual toy. He also enslaves her as his drudge, forcing her to do the domestic chores. But over time he begins to fall in love with her. Between them there grows what is called the Stockholm Syndrome, and Shane, her abductor, finally cajoles her into marrying him when she discovers she is pregnant.
Meanwhile, Terry has alerted his underworld "spy network" to search for Rena. Spencer and Jamie are also working together to find her. Jamie has been writing an essay on his ideas about modern western society. Curious and original, they involve the image of El Cid propped up on his horse, dead but lifelike, as a kind of metaphor for the West.
After Rena suffers a miscarriage she sinks into a profound depression and commits suicide. A heartbroken Shane, loathe to let her go, sets about embalming her. He keeps her lifelike body always near him and behaves as though she is still alive. Eventually Terry discovers where Rena is and undertakes to rescue her. He gives way to Spencer's pleas to come along. A defiant Shane is shot dead and the macabre spectacle of Rena's mummified body is discovered.