The film begins with eldest daughter Katrin completing the last lines of her Autobiography novel. As she reminisces about her family life, there is a Flashback (narrative) to 1910, where the first of a series of vignettes finds Marta Hanson preparing the weekly budget with her husband Lars, daughters Katrin, Christine and Dagmar, and son Nels, who announces his desire to attend high school. Each family member makes a financial sacrifice to contribute to the boy's education.