The complicated travails of several generations of Italian women provide the basis for this drama that is based on a novel by Susanna Tamaro. It begins with the peaceful death of Olga, the elderly family matriarch. Marta, her granddaughter returns from the US to attend the funeral and once in Olga's villa in Trieste, begins reading her grandmother's diary. Olga's story unfolds via flashback. As a young woman, Oldga had to marry Antonio a man she didn't love. Later she became passionately involved with a handsome doctor at the local spa. He impregnates her and shortly thereafter dies in a terrible car wreck. The result of their love is Illaria, who grows up to be terribly neurotic. She bears Marta and then she too dies in an automobile accident, leaving Marta to be raised by Olga.

In an accident the young mechanic Marco Coccia meets Cristiana. The two fall in love with one another. Cristiana confesses only later that she is a genuine princess. For Marco it is not a problem, but for Cristiana's parents it is a very big problem. The two must separate. When one evening Cristiana calls Marco and lets him know about her forthcoming wedding, Marco with the car races toward Paris and has an accident...

An elderly trio tries to adjust to each other when they all move into an apartment in Rome. When Giovanni (Ricardo Cucciolla) inherits the unit, he invites the Russian immigrant Maria (Marina Vlady) and his shy friend from college Teo (Luigi Pistilli) to live with him. Maria tries to get Teo to marry her friend so she can receive Italian citizenship. The three do their best to live in harmony in this bittersweet drama.

Set in the 1790s, this historical drama follows the travails of an idealistic noblewoman who helps lead a daring revolution in Italy.