It portrays the memories of Matilda Kshesinskaya and her love affair with the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Matilda, a Polish-born ballerina from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, had a brief and intense romance with Nicholas between 1892 and 1894, before Nicholas married Alexandra Feodorovna and was crowned Tsar after his father's death. It also explores their relationship, facing societal pressures and interference from Nicholas's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, as well as Matilda's involvement with other members of the imperial family, the Romanovs, such as Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

The story of Tanya, who is suddenly hit by a feeling that her existence is hopelessly devoid of meaning, is set in St. Petersburg. The city landscape provides the backdrop for Tanya's ups and downs as she takes drastic action, gets into scrapes and grows up as a result of the trials - both deliberate and accidental - that she faces.