the plot of which unfolds in 1900. Lili d’Alengy, a Parisian courtesan at the height of her fame, flees Paris in order to conceal her daughter, who has been deemed an “idiot”. After arriving in Rome, her life is turned upside down when she meets a female doctor who has developed a method of helping intellectually challenged children: Maria Montessori. However, if she wishes to publicly embody the donna nuova, or “new woman”, a modern, emancipated lady, she must pay the price – motherhood out of wedlock and kept under wraps. Soon, she will be forced to choose between her child and her destiny.