Puglia, Italy, 1921: Leandro returns home, now a rich man with a glamorous American wife. But how did he get so wealthy - and what haunts his outwardly exuberant wife? Boyd, a quiet English architect, is hired to build Leandro's dreams. But why is he so afraid of Leandro? Clare, Boyd's diffident wife, is summoned to Puglia with her stepson. At first desperate to leave, she soon finds a compelling reason to stay. Ettore, starving, poor and grieving for his lost fiancee, is too proud to ask his Uncle Leandro for help - until events conspire to force his hand. Tensions are high as poverty leads veterans of the Great War to the brink of rebellion. And under the burning sky, a reckless love and a violent enmity will bring brutal truths to light ...