In 1975, Rose MacGregor dreams of finding love and fulfillment at her Midwestern college, where she is the only woman in the music department, but instead she must contend with the scorn of her professors and fellow students, the interest of a lesbian cellist, and the troubles of her younger sister.

Forty-something Chris, unsatisfied by his marriage, begins a relationship with twenty-something Roza, who claims to be the daughter of a Tito loyalist and fascinates him with stories of her alleged experiences.

In the summer of 1970, Keith Nearing, a twenty-year-old college student, stays in a castle in Italy with a group of friends, including his girlfriend Lily and her beautiful but shallow friend, Scheherazade, with whom he is hopelessly and desperately in love. Keith's hapless attempts to secretly court Scheherazade shape his subsequent love life for decades to come.