The brilliant beauty Cassandra von Gotthard, her banker husband, growing children, Cassandra's lover, the famous writer Stern - the lives of all these people are crumbling, broken by the rising fascism. The trials that befell the heroes lasted for many years. The charming image of the von Gotthards' grown daughter Ariadne, her love, a woman's destiny, and newfound happiness are at the center of this eventful novel.