On a Sunday in May, people are counting down the hours at Carolina’s house. The next day they will have to publicly take part in the collective emotionalism which has overwhelmed the small seaside town: Mauro Secondari, a young factory worker, fell and died on the job. And ever since this happened, his companion Carolina has been on her own, with a ten-year-old son, and she finds it almost impossible to despair over having lost the love of her life. Why is she unable to cry? Why isn’t she going crazy with pain? The funeral is the next day and everybody is expecting to see a young, distraught widow. Carolina cannot and must not disappoint anyone, above all herself.