The sprawling saga of a woman who fights for her freedom　Late 19th-century Genoa. Rossella, daughter of a nobleman, has fallen in love with the rakish, ambitious journalist Giuliano, who is rejected by her family. She runs away with him, but is soon left alone with their child... Determined to earn her own living, Rossella studies medicine and becomes a physician. She soon loses her heart to the kind young doctor Riccardo, whose wife is found murdered after an altercation with him. The blame is put on Giuliano, who has returned to Genoa. And though the public prosecutor charges Giuliano of murder, he suddenly changes his argumentation, accusing Riccardo instead...

　　With Riccardo in jail, Rossella must contend alone with the corrupt Giuliano and the public prosecutor, who is hiding a dark secret that could prove Riccardo's innocence – as well as his own guilt. Rossella finds at least a bit of joy in treating sick children in a hospital, where she meets the nobleman Lorenzo, who falls in love with her. Believing that Riccardo has died in an attempt to escape from prison, Rossella is about to reciprocate Lorenzo's love. But Riccardo is not dead: he wants to secretly take Rossella and their children to New York – a plan that Giuliano clearly intends to foil...