1953. A young woman from southern Italy must travel far from home for her first job as a teacher. She is sorry to be leaving, but not on account of her mother and her sister, with whom she knows where she stands, though their relations can, at times, be harsh. What she hates to leave behind is a love story with a boy from one of the better families in her town, someone who truly appears to love her too. They promise each other that nothing will change. She will only be away until June, and then she can ask for a transfer closer to home. And so she leaves, a bit sad, but also curious over what awaits her. But what she finds is far different from what she imagined.Much worse. A school perched on an isolated plateau, unruly children, locals she has nothing in common with, even inhospitable natural surroundings. She sticks with it out of pride, because her courageous approach to life is one of the things Francesco loves about her. Until one cold day in February everything seems to plunge into complete and utter darkness, everything appears to be lost... Though that is never the case, as Nena slowly discovers …