After the fall of the January Uprising, those who fought in the insurgent ranks are massively deported to Siberia. A wealthy landowner, Ewelina, like many other Polish ladies, decides to follow her beloved man, Jan Darski, there. She is not even stopped by the despair of her only beloved daughter, Karolina, who cannot imagine her life without her mother. Ewelina reaches Jan. She takes care of a broken man, and after the suicide of her husband, Cyprian, she marries Darski. Soon Jan dies, and Ewelina, raped before leaving, returns to Poland. Years later, an adult Karolina meets her mother by chance, meets her half-sister, Suzana. Ewelina, Karolina and Suzane live together, but not for long. After an argument with her mother, who tries to prevent Karolina from having a relationship with the playboy Edward Borski, the daughter leaves the house with her beloved. Karolina, just like her mother years ago, follows her beloved deported to Russia