Katarina is a music teacher obsessed with an unfinished symphony. She worries about her brother, Ondrej an introverted inventor whose financiers are reputedly shady and dangerous. Then one day, her ex-husband Pietro shows up in her house and locks her in a cage.

Gilda Bessé shares her Paris apartment with an Irish schoolteacher, Guy Malyon, and Mia, a refugee from Spain. As the world drifts toward war, Gilda defiantly pursues her hedonistic lifestyle and her burgeoning career as a photographer. But Guy and Mia feel impelled to join the fight against fascism, and the three friends are separated.

When editor Jane Grant receives a plus-one invitation to her cousin's wedding, she finds herself in a predicament. To one-up her old high school rival Natasha Nutley, Jane tells her about her perfect, charming and handsome boyfriend -- except he isn't real. Catching word of her "boyfriend," Jane's intrusive Aunt Ida demands he make an appearance at the wedding. Now, Jane must go on every date she can snag to find a man who fits the bill.