Arthur Nightingale, a professor at a small, private college in Vermont, is happily at work on a book in London when the school's dean calls and persuades him to direct their study abroad program in Florence. Although spectacularly under-qualified for the job-he doesn't speak Italian, has no administrative experience, and doesn't especially enjoy the company of young people-he agrees, but only after successfully bargaining for a generous per diem and a housing allowance that allows him to live apart from the students. He then rents a lovely, spacious hillside villa with a grand view of Florence. But living in luxury has a price: his eccentric landlady insists that he help her find a buyer for an Old Master painting she believes to be a work of Raphael. Arthur becomes entangled in her scheme while also teaching a course on the operas of Verdi and trying to ward off the advances of a older student who is the wife of a college trustee. But he finds his biggest challenge when he begins negotiations with members of the Italian underworld.