Valentin Mishatkin

Having learned that the empty monastery is facing a thorough reconstruction, the architect decides to capture it alone and prepare design documentation for the restoration of this monument of history and culture. But the monastery turns out to be far from empty. Besides him, a strange old woman also lives in the house.

The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.