Irena (Kseniya Rappoport) is a Ukrainian prostitute. She finds a job in an apartment in a northern Italy. She soon becomes the friend of Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), the nurse/ caretaker of a family's ailing child, Thea (Clara Dossena). When the nurse becomes crippled Irena assumes her place. Slowly, the facts about Irena become clear. All her nine children had been sold by her pimp to adoptive parents and Irena believes that Thea is her daughter. In spite of the deep relationship developed between the child and Irena, she is fired by the child’s mother, Valeria Adacher (Claudia Gerini). After that, some sad and unexpected events occur, and, further facts about the belief of Irena that Thea is her daughter, are revealed.