In the bigoted and retrograde Palermo of the immediate post-war period, Letizia is a curious and rebellious girl who at sixteen decides to get married hoping to have more freedom but instead finds herself trapped in a marriage strictly disciplined by patriarchal rules. Following a nervous breakdown, she will be admitted to a Swiss clinic and undergo psychiatric treatment. Back in Palermo, with her marriage in full crisis and in a state of perennial emotional fragility, Letizia decides to face her malaise with psychoanalysis, continuing to feel trapped in a reality that she cannot accept.