Set in 1966 in the small port town of Sete, Mima, aged 12 and her sister, who are Italian and from a Calabrian family, live in France with other members of the family. However, one day Mima witnesses her beloved grandfather being taken away by two men, and later he is found dead. She discovers that he was killed because of a long-running family feud with the mafia, and does not tell that she witnessed anything, since, if identified, then her father and brothers would be obliged to seek out the killers and take revenge.