
Nestled high in the Italian Alps lies Vilminore home to Ciro a strapping mountain boy. Close by lives Enza a practical girl who longs only for a happy life for her family. When the two meet as teenagers it seems it could be the start of a life together... Then Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal & is sent to America as an apprentice to a shoemaker in Little Italy leaving behind a bereft Enza. Her family faces disaster & she too is forced to flee to America with her father to secure their future. Unbeknownst to one another Ciro & Enza build fledgling lives in New York. Ciro masters shoemaking & Enza takes a factory job until fate intervenes & reunites them. But it is too late: Ciro has volunteered to serve in World War I & Enza must learn to forge a life without him. From the stately mansions of New York's Upper East Side to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy over the perilous cliffs of northern Italy to the white-capped lakes of northern Minnesota these star-crossed lovers meet & separate until finally the power of their love changes both of their lives forever...