Edith Piaf was raised in a brothel, wrested from the only life she knew by her father so they could join the circus, Edith spent her teen years on the streets. She is finally "rescued" by a crime figure who gives her career a start, and, ultimately, her international success and final illness. She was always frail, sickly, malnourished, and wildly temperamental. She was often on drugs or alcohol, and she was always in search of true love. Middleweight...

Melanie is a young woman whose ambitions as a concert pianist were dashed as a child by the thoughtless behavior of the jury chairwoman, a famous pianist Madame Fouchecourt, during her exam. Ten years later Melanie sets up an elaborate plan for revenge and soon begins to ingratiate herself into the family. Unrecognized by Madame, Melanie becomes her trusted "page turner" as both women prepare for the performance of a lifetime.