In 1928, industrial titan Henry Ford set out to conquer the Brazilian rainforest, determined to grow his own rubber and free his company from British control. The result was Fordlandia—a factory-town dream of American order imposed on the chaos of the jungle. But behind the promise of progress lies exploitation, cultural conflict, and ecological disaster.

Seventeen-year-old Joann Rogge is uprooted from Michigan when her father is appointed assistant manager of the Ford Company's Amazonian plantation. Eager to escape the confining expectations of American society, Joanna finds herself both fascinated and disturbed by the rainforest—and by Rafael Caetano, a skilled Brazilian mechanic with ambitions of his own.

As conditions in Fordlandia deteriorate—diseased crops, rising fevers, and mounting
tensions between management and labor—Joanna and Rafael are drawn together in a fragile romance that defies class, culture, and the company's rigid rules. When political revolution and corporate control collide, they must choose between duty and desire, safety and truth, survival and love.