Synopsis: Disenchanted with her unhappy 20-year marriage, Sicilian immigrant Lady Torrance manages a store in the 1940s Deep South while her oppressive and bigoted husband, Jabe, lies bedridden with cancer upstairs. When dashing young transient Val Xavier shows up at the store, she dives into a passionate liaison with him that not only starts a lurid town-wide scandal but may also prove dangerous for the unconventional lovers.