Brothers Paolo and Ignazio Florio are two small-time spice traders who have escaped from a Calabria stuck in the past and looking for social redemption. In Sicily they invent a future and turn a small, dilapidated shop into a thriving business that the young Vincenzo, with his revolutionary ideas, will transform into an economic empire. However, Vincenzo's life and that of the entire family is overwhelmed by the disruptive arrival of Giulia, a strong and intelligent woman who contrasts with the rigid rules of society at the time.