Ede falls in love with Unku, a girl from a travelling circus. Love cannot run smoothly however because Unku is a Gypsy. Various adventures take place before love is finally allowed to run its natural course.

Kemmel, a sculptor with a troubled nature, wonders, as he approaches his fortieth birthday, whether he has created any truly significant work.

From Martin Anderson Nexo's novel comes this loved story of a Swedish boy and his elderly father trying to make a better life for themselves in Denmark. A bleak future quickly becomes apparent when the two find employment on a farm full of misery.