Set in mid-20th-century Rio de Janeiro, A Story from Yesterday, dictated by the spirit Leonel to the medium Mônica de Castro, is a profound Spiritist romance about betrayal, karmic debts, and the ultimate healing power of forgiveness. The story follows Rosali, a beautiful and naive young woman who falls passionately in love with Alberto, an unscrupulous and vain man who falsely claims to be a practicing doctor. When Rosali becomes pregnant out of wedlock, her rigid and conservative father, Osvaldo, violently disowns her and throws her out of the house.
To avoid a social scandal and clear his path to marry the wealthy and arrogant Marialva, Alberto and his father conspire against Rosali. Under the guise of helping her, they exile her to a remote estate in Portugal and spread the false news that she died of an illness during the voyage. Abandoned and heartbroken, Rosali gives birth to her son, Henrique, and spends the next ten years in Europe harboring a deep, consuming thirst for revenge against the man who destroyed her life.
Back in Brazil, tragedy strikes the family. Rosali's brother, Alfredo, who is obsessively in love with Marialva, crashes Marialva and Alberto's wedding and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. Bound by his obsessive passion and ignorance, Alfredo's disincarnate spirit refuses to leave the physical plane. He attaches himself to Marialva, tormenting her in her sleep and slowly driving her toward severe schizophrenia and madness. Meanwhile, Alberto's moral degradation continues as he begins a sordid, long-term affair with his own mother-in-law, Adélia.
Guided by her deceased grandmother, the enlightened spirit Maria do Socorro, Rosali eventually returns to Brazil with ten-year-old Henrique. She is warmly welcomed by her loyal cousin Elisa and her husband Leonardo, and she tearfully reconciles with her repentant parents. However, Rosali's desire for vengeance remains strong. Discovering Alberto's affair with Adélia, she anonymously tips off Adélia's husband, Cristiano. The revelation leads to a violent confrontation where Cristiano shoots Alberto in the leg and dark family secrets-including Cristiano's own homosexual past-are exposed, destroying Alberto's marriage.
Through the spiritual guidance of Maria do Socorro and Dr. Mariano, the karmic roots of these tragedies are revealed. In 16th-century France, Alberto (then Count Victor) had similarly seduced and forced Rosali (then Lénore) into a fatal abortion, creating centuries of karmic entanglement.
The cycle of hatred is finally broken through the sublime example of Elisa, who represents true spiritual elevation. Despite suffering from a severe tumor, Elisa bravely carries her final pregnancy to term, giving birth to little Edmundo-who is the reincarnation of a spirit that once hated Rosali. Elisa tragically disincarnates during childbirth, but her sublime sacrifice and her introduction of the Spiritist Gospel into the family deeply touch Rosali. Letting go of her desire for revenge, Rosali forgives Alberto, allowing him to finally build a loving relationship with his son Henrique. In the end, Rosali fulfills her promise to raise her cousin's children and marries the widowed Leonardo-a man she had secretly loved for years-finding true peace and happiness with the spiritual blessing of Elisa.
