Following the death of their mother (Hope Davis), two young sisters accompany their father (Colin Firth) to the Italian city of Genoa, where an old friend (Catherine Keener) has gotten him a teaching assignment for the summer. Still coping with the grief over the loss of their mother in two very different ways, the girls soon find themselves swept up in a city and lifestyle that seem as equally alluring as they do imposing. While the youngest daughter remains haunted by visions of her mother, the elder embarks on a sexual awakening rooted in a desire for a clean break. And as the summer progresses, both girls and their father must come to terms with their irreplaceable loss and find a way to once again become a family.