Among the many evening classes starting all over Dublin is an 'Introduction to Italian'. On the surface, it could be just one of hundreds in which some students will succeed and some will fall along the way. However, the hopes and dreams of so many people are tied up in the twice-weekly lessons.

They are ready to set off on the promised trip to Italy at the end of the year, and everyone's destiny has changed utterly. A girl finds love, a boy abandons crime, and a man regains a reason for living. It is the work of the teacher, an Irish woman who followed a married man to Italy and returned to Ireland on his death. A tale of one woman's gift for helping others.

The Italian evening class at Mountainview School is like hundreds of others starting up all over the city. But this class has its own special quality - as the focus for the varied hopes and dreams of teacher and pupils alike.

Aidan Dunne needs his new evening class project to succeed almost as much as his pupils do. They too are looking for something more: Bill to find a way to keep spendthrift Lizzie at his side, and Fran to make sure that young Kathy finds her way out from behind the kitchen sink. The key to their success lies with the Signora. Her passion has drawn her from Ireland to Italy and back home again with a burning desire to share her love of all things Italian.