Gregorio Caccialupi is taking stock of his long intense life His earliest memories date back to the 1930s in Polesine a backwater town on the Po delta His childhood there was riddled with abject poverty illness and toil When tuberculosis strikes his beautiful mother who has removed herself from the harsh reality of the world around her his destiny takes a sudden turn He is an adolescent when he leaves Polesine and sets off for America in search of fortuneYears later as a man of endless resources and the object of much admiration he racks up successes losses and women who try and fail to win his heart Florencia his first love Nostalgia his wife and Erminia his current flame Over the years he comes to be known as Mister Gregory the rich magnate behind a large Italian hotel chain a person of influence and a man to be feared Then a bad investment causes him to lose everything His path seems ill fated until a chance meeting and a surprise revelation lead Mister Gregory now an old man to take back the reins of his life and embark on a new adventure