In the summer of 1941, the Karelian youths Wist and Anttala decide to seek family silver hidden under Wist's home behind the border line of the truce.

A wide-eyed doll salesman is mistaken for a bomb-wielding anarchist by the oppressive forces of the totalitarian state.

After her mother's death, Irja, an evacuee girl, finds herself in a poor financial situation. Working as a housekeeper for her former teacher on a starvation wage, her situation improves when she is hired as a janitor at a secondary school. Despite the opposition of Principal Kuusi, she decides to take the matriculation examination and, in order to improve her writing skills, responds to a correspondence advertisement placed by the mysterious Master Ahtojää.

The year is 1895 in a small village in Savo, where new ideas such as women's rights and folk high schools are vehemently opposed by Pastor Jussilainen, both in his home and in the parish. His wife Eveliina, the maids, and the conservative parishioners all experience his vehemence. However, the pastor meets his match when his mother-in-law arrives for a visit.

Pastor Samuel Bro has lost his faith in God. He is in conflict with the Church Council and is rejected from his priesthood. He moves away to a different life.