Battling feelings of loss and apathy in the wake of a painful divorce, novelist Jeanette struggles to complete a book about the long-term relationship between Clara Schumann, a celebrated pianist and the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, and her husband's protégé, the handsome young composer Johannes Brahms, while at the same time dealing with her feelings towards the mysterious, worldly Hart whose casual help with translations quickly blossoms into something more.