1950: a fatherless family lives in a frighteningly large house somewhere in Amsterdam-Zuid. The family consists of mother Zijdeveld, her 35-year-old son Charles, and her daughter Regina, who is two years younger. Then there is Jozef, the cousin who lives with them and has ambitions to become a writer. The relationship between mother Zijdeveld and Charles is not only special, but also very oppressive and artificial. Trapped in a world of books and literary quotations, mother Zijdeveld does not allow anyone to come between her and Charles. But then Charles announces that he wants to marry Mary, the pharmacist's widow who is suspected of murder...

Just your ordinary video store around the corner: A woman enters, grabs a videotape and goes to the counter. She pulls a gun and asks for money. "Quick, quick, quick!" The cashier looks anxious and hands over the money. But just when she turns around to walk away, the cashier pulls a shotgun and fires. Is it for real? Apparently not, because someone shouts: Stop! and we suddenly find ourselves on a film set. The director seems to disagree however with the decision to stop shooting. She reflects on the situation. Then, just few moments later, the director is lying in bed. Was the film set real? Was it fiction?

When Madelief's grandmother dies, her mother takes her to the funeral. She then visits her grandfather, but quickly gets bored, until Mischa tells her how much fun a rural summer can be. She investigates her grandmother's "summer house", made curious by the lock on the door. Madelief didn't remember her grandmother, but from her snooping in the summer house she learns a lot about her. Written by Steve Schonberger

Frisian-spoken costume drama about the turbulent marriage between a writer and a socialist politician.