Tells the story of Syracuse, a simple fisherman who catches a beautiful and mysterious woman in his trawler nets. The woman seems to be dead, but then she comes alive before Syracuse's eyes and he thinks he may be seeing things. However, with the help of his ailing yet irrepressible daughter, Annie, he comes to believe that the fantastical might be possible and that the woman (Ondine) might be a myth come true.

A sweet, naive young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances doesn't think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to the widowed Greta. The two become fast friends, but the older woman's maternal charms begin to dissolve...