An author struggling with writer's block, Frances Mayes (Diane Lane), is also struggling with the break up of her marriage. Her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh), a lesbian who is expecting a baby, convinces her to go on a tour of Italy to get away from her troubles. At first she is not interested, but after becoming depressed in her gloomy apartment she decides to go. While on the tour she happens upon a notice of sale for an old Italian villa, which she eventually ends up buying. During the course of the remodeling of the villa, her life undergoes a little remodeling as well as she comes to terms with what has happened. She even has a little fling with an Italian man, Marcello (Raoul Bova), along the way. Frances will end up finding her happiness eventually 'Under the Tuscan Sun'.