Synopsis

Early nineteenth-century spring. Bianca Pietra, a young woman of good breeding and modest means, leaves her childhood home on Lake Garda for the Milanese countryside, where she becomes the guest of a renowned poet: Don Titta, a man with a flair for experimental agriculture, which he practices on his estate and also cultivates flowers and exotic plants in the grounds of his villa in Brusuglio. Bianca, a skilled watercolorist, is called upon to portray the botanical heritage of the master of the house. Graceful, ardent, and restless, she approaches the task with enthusiasm, becoming part of a large and complicated family. She draws, paints, explores the gardens, and studies with interest the myriad characters who populate the large mansion: among them is Pia, an orphaned servant of keen intelligence and innate grace who enjoys singular privileges. Inquisitive to the point of impudence, sincere to excess, and prone to daydreaming, Bianca becomes convinced that Pia's origins conceal a secret, and that Don Titta and his entire family are working tirelessly to keep it secret. This is enough to fuel her desire to uncover the truth by launching a passionate investigation. What Bianca, so astute at observing and illustrating nature, stubbornly fails to understand is that this search for truth involves her own feelings: and it is a dangerous game, because the botany of emotions is not an exact science, knows no rules, and can prove profoundly deceptive.