Watson and Gane reproduce the Bohemian Paris of the early 1950s, where Juliet, a penniless American art student, shares a flat with Paulette, a revolutionary with an extensive lingerie collection. To make ends meet, Juliet paints portraits of wealthy debutantes. One of her subjects is Deborah, a young woman trapped in the old social order of her wealthy family.

Juliet herself has felt confined in the rigid academic structure of her art education and finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Deborah. And though Juliet wasn't expecting romance, this is Paris after all, where both inspiration and love abound. Juliet and Deborah's love for art bring them together, even as their friends and family try to drive them apart.