Italy, 1964. Maria Domenica is the eldest daughter in the Carrozza family from the tiny southern village of San Giulio. At sixteen, Maria's life is limited to the confines of her mother's rural kitchen and the Caffe Angeli, a place of friendship and strong espresso. Her parents have high hopes for Maria, but she has other plans. She runs away to Rome but, a year later, she returns to in disgrace - pregnant, with the identity of the father a mystery. Hastily, she is married off to a neighbour's son. But she soon escapes again.