Sixteen-year-old Ida loses her mother and is left in the care of a cruel aunt who does not give her a moment’s peace. But the girl firmly decides that she will become a doctor to save lives. Soon, her father appears—a famous writer who takes her to his home in Peredelkino. However, Ida feels like an outsider there as well: her stepmother and half-sister do everything they can to make her leave.
Only her foster brother Romka welcomes her warmly, and feelings flare up between the young people. Realizing that their relationship is wrong, they part ways. Years later, Ida becomes a brilliant doctor, gets married, and has children. But she is unable to forget the love she once lost. And one day, the past will come knocking at her door.