Show Synopsis:
Francesca, an Italian war bride, loves her family but feels unfulfilled. Her family leaves for the national 4H fair and she looks forward to a little relaxation and solitude. A National Geographic photographer, Robert Kincaid, comes to her house to ask directions to Roseman Bridge so he can finish photographing the county?s covered bridges. Francesca goes with him and later invites him for dinner, though she realizes she is quickly developing feelings for him. The next day, Francesca buys a new dress and follows Robert to the bridge, where they connect over his photographs of Naples. Francesca invites him to dinner again, and her husband Bud calls to tell her they will be staying an extra day at the fair. They separately reflect over their love and marriage. Robert and Francesca kiss, dance, and sleep together while Francesca?s daughter Carolyn worries about her competing steer and her son Michael fights with Bud over his adulthood responsibilities. Francesca and Robert take a day trip to Des Moines and Francesca ponders leaving her family for a life on the road with Bud. The day afterwards, she promises him that she will meet him in town by six o?clock. Francesca?s neighbor Marge shows up and implies that though she knows about Francesca?s affair, she will not tell anybody. Francesca finds she cannot tell Bud about her affair and the entire family heads into town, where Francesca says goodbye to Robert from afar and chooses to stay with her family. Years later, Carolyn is a wife and mother, Michael is a doctor, and Bud dies of illness. Francesca is alone and wonders if the silent phone calls she occasionally receives are Robert. Robert, who is ill himself, packs his belongings, having given up hope that he will ever speak with Francesca again. After he dies, Francesca returns to the bridge with a letter delivered from him posthumously and the picture he took of her at the bridge at the beginning of their romance.
When a girl grows up in Napoli,
There are roads laid out before her.
And you understand, i'm speaking of
The times before the war.
When a girl grows up in Napoli,
She is more or less a target
For her mamma's expectations,
For the boys' infatuations;
All you get is one decision:
Will she give them what they want?
My sister Chiara wore tight-fitting sweaters,
Unbuttoned just so.
Chiara would squeeze every drop of attention
Wherever she'd go.
Chiara said, "'Cesca, you must be prepared."
Chiara would act as though nobody cared.
Chiara would laugh at me, quiet and scared?
And I dreamed of a flat in Siena
On the market square,
With a book and a pot and a window
And a single chair -
Far from lonesome,
Far from Chiara,
Almost real.
Paolo was a boy from down the hill with silver eyes and hair
Like coal
And massive hands that trembled when he looked my way.
Paolo was a boy who loved to swim, and who knows why I fell
For him,
But soon enough I kissed him on a winter's day.
Chiara said, "'Cesca, he's dull and he's dumb.
You'll end up a farm wife, exhausted and numb.
I'm off to the serviceman's club; you should come!"
But I dreamed of the beach at Ancona,
Where our kids would play,
Paolo right by my side, and the ocean
Only steps away?
Close to heaven.
Far from Chiara.
Almost real.
Chiara went dancing while air raid sirens were shrieking.
Chiara would open her legs just as easy as speaking.
Paolo went off with the Army and never returned.
And all that Chiara could say was, "I hope now you've learned."
And the streets were rubble
And the water was filthy
And there were no cigarettes
And no haircuts
And no thinking about the future.
And I sat at the harbor,
Watching the American ships
And then?
I looked up and I saw an American smile down at me.
And I knew if I just took his hand, I could at last be free.
I could love him, I could want him
Only take me from Italia,
Far from Chiara!
Far enough that I could feel
Almost real.