Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin are on a vacation in Florence. The girls are given a room looking into the courtyard, but they would rather have one with a view over the river. George Emerson and his father offer the two girls to change rooms and this is how George and Lucy meet for the first time. George grows fond of Lucy but she is not sure of her feelings towards him. She returns home to England where she accepts to marry Cecil Vyse, a man who had already proposed to her three times. They move to a new family home and destiny reunites her with George.Will Lucy come to regret her choice? Does she have the right to break off the engagement? Will she choose George over her own freedom?