Early 20th Century Italy saw many of its residents moving from the countryside to the cities. Staying in in their country mansion are Mori (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a wealthy professor who runs a sanitarium, and his young wife Vittoria (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). Vittoria struggles with depression during pregnancy and when her baby is born, she is unable to produce milk for the child or even show the infant an ounce of love. This causes Mori to employ an illiterate woman from the country, Annetta (Maya Sansa), as a wet nurse and nanny. Leaving her own child and a jailed lover behind, Annetta touches Mori with her beauty and her affection for the child. Mori's own feelings are intensified when he begins reading letters from Annetta's lover to her and offers to help her to learn to read.