Helen Wahlman is the hostess of a luxury hotel in the mountains. Her husband fled to Chile 15 years ago, after being guilty of fraud, and was killed there. Helen's image of marriage is just dark memories. A few days before Christmas, Helen gets a shock as her husband appears from the dead at the hotel.

Bragehus manor receives a new farm bailiff with new ideas on how to run a modern farm. The manor is haunted by a ghost.

A young and spoiled aristocrat is guilty of a hit-and-run accident.

The year is 1941 and Nazi Germany is at its peak. Hitler's army is storming into Russia. Sweden stands lonely and isolated while the air force is training intensely due to a coming attack. The squadron leader pushes his men at its hardest. It's a constant game with death where death unfortunately often wins.

In the Stockholm archipelago in the 1880s, Carlsson move out to an isolated farmstead to help the widow Flood with the farm. Carlsson has big plans for the island, including having paying guests in the summer but Gusten, the son of the widow, is negative. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

The teacher Arne Markell, who is also a well-known poet, leaves his class of students. He will marry Lena and work for a new school. One of the students, Majken, misses him sincerely.

Gunnar Solberg is subjected to a robbery attempt at the cafe he owns. However, he stops the robbery and gets the robber to be honorable again.

The young Count Per falls in love with the gypsy Elina. The old Count Nils opposes the relationship and a serious conflict arises.

A story spanning four generations.

The prologue shows a Swedish home, where a family discusses what "a handful of rice" can mean. The action then moves to Thailand and shows the life of a Thai couple, Pó Chai and Mé Ying, and their lives of joy and hardship in the jungle growing rice.