Ambitious, determined and passionate, Nella Castelluca dreams of achieving more than her humble roots allow - an education, and a good job. She lives on her family's farm on the outskirts of Roseto - a town of old world tradition whose annual centrepiece revolves around the Queen of the Big Time beauty pageant. When Nella meets the handsome, worldly, irresistible Renato Lanzara, she believes she has found the soulmate with whom to share her life journey, until an unexpected turn of events leaves her and her fellow townsfolk shaken and shocked.