The young Mary Cassatt never thought moving to Paris after the Civil War to be an artist was going to be easy, but when, after a decade of work, her submission to the Paris Salon is rejected. Her father wants her to return to Philadelphia to find a husband, her sister Lydia is falling mysteriously ill, and Mary is beginning to doubt herself. One evening a friend introduces her to Edgar Degas and her life changes forever, so begins the defining period of her life and the most tempestuous of relationships.