Cesira, a widowed shopkeeper, and Rosetta, her beautiful young daughter, flee south from Rome to escape the German occupation, hoping to wait out the war in Cesira's native province. But the Allied liberation brings tragedy that changes the women's lives forever. Out of print for 30 years, this moving portrayal of the anguish and horror of war was the inspiration for the 1960 film for which Sophia Loren won the Oscar for best actress.