At the center of the fable is Guido, an enchanting individual with childlike innocence and grand dreams of owning his own book Shop. It's 1939, and he and his poet friend, Ferruccio have come to the Tuscan town of Arrezzo to stay with Guido's uncle. With unabashed humor and joy, the two seek fortune and romance, ignoring the growing anti-Semitism, some of which has been directed at his own uncle, and Fascist government that surrounds them. Guido falls in love with Dora a beautiful young school teacher, and a fairy tale romance ensues.

Several years later, Guido and Dora are married and have a son, Giosue and Guido has finally opened the book shop or his dreams. But now, the occasional bigotries Guido once ignored have become Racial Laws with which he must come to terms. This determination becomes a matter of life and death when Guido and his son are sent to a concentration camp three months before the war's end. Of her own accord, and out of her love for them, Dora deports herself on the same train Now, in this unimaginable world, Guide must use his bold imagination and every ounce of his indefatigable spirit to save those he loves.