Italy in the 1950s is still picking up the pieces after the war Chiara Ridolfi is the guileless daughter of a decrepit Italian upper class family Barney her English girl-friend who can sum up a man from one firm hand-grip Salvatore is a penniless doctor from the south who thinks he is proof against politics, social conscience and tenderness He is about to be married to Chiara - a story that combines sharpness and generosity in its observation of people