| Lucy Harmon, an American teenager is arriving in the lush Tuscan countryside to be sculpted by a family friend who lives in a beautiful villa. Lucy visited there four years earlier and exchanged a kiss with an Italian boy with whom she hopes to become reacquainted. |
| Frances Mayes, a 35-year-old San Francisco writer, gets a divorce that leaves her with terminal writer's block and depression. Later, she decides to buy a house in Tuscany in order to change her life. |
| Young Florentines take refuge from the black plague and engage in bawdy adventures and lusty exchanges. |