The reclusive writer Henry returns from his travels and finds a pile of letters on his doorstep. Without a salutation or signature, the poems written on used train tickets remind him of his current literary impotence. Henry opens envelope after envelope and reads, reading between the lines, gradually allowing the foreign words to touch his soul. After a while, his imagination awakens, and he may even start writing again himself. But who are these mysterious letters from?

The drama of a young married couple unfolds during the socially and politically turbulent times of the young Czechoslovak Republic in 1919, when husband Michal decides to take advantage of the still unsettled post-war conditions to enrich himself, which, in his foolish imagination, will earn him the admiration and love of his adored wife.

Set over a two-decade period in a tiny Central European village, this drama not only chronicles a couple's tragic star-crossed love, it also serves as a metaphor for the tragedy of lost traditions. After opening in the snowy wilds as two people spectacularly die, the story jumps back 20 years as young Verona prepares to marry. Unfortunately, voracious wolves descend upon the ceremony and all but Verona and her courageous 10-year-old brother-in-law Goran, who saves her, perish. That day, Verona gives birth to Veronika and promptly betroths her daughter to the heroic Goran. A decade passes and on Veronika's 10th birthday, her engagement to Goran is formally announced at a big party. Festivities halt when a troupe of female circus performers and their sly employer Madina show up. Veronika soon finds herself more interested in Madina's young son Michal than she is in the adult Goran. Meanwhile, the worldly Madina attempts to adjust to life in an old-fashioned village.