The novel takes place during the occupation of Greece by German and Italian troops in the provincial town of Bastion. The main character of the book is the girl Rarau. Even before the occupation, her father went to the Albanian front, leaving his wife and three children - Rarau and her two brothers. Famine begins in the country, and in order to save the children, Rarau's mother becomes the mistress of an Italian officer. With the liberation of the country, all women and families who hosted enemies of the motherland in their homes are labeled traitors and transported throughout the city in a truck as a sign of public humiliation. Rarau witnesses the terrible massacre of her mother and goes all this way with her.