Céline is a free-spirited woman is married to a dull, middle manager Philippe. Her husband's co-worker pegged her as a household ornament because of the union. She befriends a woman who shows her how to juggle the couple's living expenses to get what she wants. As she asserts her independence and gradually frees herself from her husband's claustrophobic world, she turns to painting and writing about the inequity between genders.

故事发生在1942年的耶路撒冷，大卫（汤姆·汉克斯 Tom Hanks 饰）和好友皮特（本内迪克特·泰勒 Benedict Taylor 饰）加入了英国皇家空军，被派往那里驻守。在那儿，大卫邂逅了名为莎拉（克里斯蒂娜·马尔西利亚奇 Cristina Marsillach 饰）的女孩，几经波折之后，两人相爱了。
可是，莎拉出生在一个非常传统的犹太家庭之中，对于她的父母来说，和异族人通婚是大逆不道的事情。为了拆散萨拉和大卫，萨拉的家人囚禁了这个可怜的姑娘，不仅如此，他们还想方设法逼迫莎拉嫁给她的堂兄。眼看着无法逃脱悲惨的命运，萨拉决定见大卫最后一面，然后彻底放弃挣扎的希望。