Julie is a young and newly qualified teacher from Copenhagen, Denmark. Fed up with her unfaithful boyfriend and big city life, she takes a job as a teacher on an idyllic island in southern Norway. Julie finds it difficult to be accepted in the closed-net community of the island. Slowly but surely, she discovers that the idyllic island hides many dark secrets.

Knut Hamsun is Norway's most famous and admired author. Ever since he was young he has hated the English for the starvation they caused Norway during WWI. When the Germans occupy Norway 9 April 1940 he welcomes them and the protection they can give from Great Britain. He supports the national socialist ideals, but opposes the way these ideals are turned into action - that Norwegians are jailed and executed. His wife Marie travels in Germany during the war as a sign of support from Knut and herself.