She works at Norrköping Hospital, at the very bottom of the hierarchy: in the cafeteria, below the doctors, nurses and nursing assistants. But she dreams of one day becoming a writer, of moving away and reinventing herself. Carl Malmberg, an older, married doctor at the hospital, catches her eye. She begins an intense affair with him, though she struggles with the knowledge that he may never be hers. At the same time, she realizes that their attraction to each other is governed by their differences in social status. As her doubts increase, the revelation of a secret no one could have predicted forces her to take her own destiny in hand.

In her 40s, childless and living alone, Karolina Andersson feels adrift after the breakup of a long relationship. She finds fulfillment in her work, and when she starts advising a new postgraduate student, she is struck by his confidence. He claims to have discovered new materials from a female artist working around 1900 that could change the history of Swedish visual arts. Karolina soon finds herself embroiled in a complex game with both emotional and professional consequences.

A young woman falls for the husband of her older sister during one short-lived summer in the idyllic Swedish countryside, only to learn that he is as threatening as he is charismatic.