Marina Sasina

May, 8, 1945. Maxim Prokhorov, major of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, arrives at a small northern island. There live eleven people: five young women, five children from one to three years, and the captain Karp Nichiporuk. The young mothers were exiled to the island from the territories occupied by fascists, and their children are the children of the German occupier. Arrival of the major upsets the casual life on the island. The major has to "clean up" the island and the nearest settlements. The military man authorizes a plan to organize a training camp in the region for saboteurs. The night of May, 9, the women are told about the German capitulation, their hopes for forgiveness and return home become a certainty. They are even allowed to celebrate the Victory.

On the day of her twentieth wedding anniversary, Nadezhda Grushina loses everything that made up the meaning of her life: her businessman husband leaves for another, her grown-up daughter goes abroad. Nadezhda remains alone in her parents' large apartment in the center of St. Petersburg.

In Alexandre Dumas' novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" there is a character - the daughter of the Turkish Sultan Gaide, whose parents were killed and she herself was sold into slavery. However, this is not an invention of Dumas. The Turkish woman Gayde is a real historical person. A woman whose beauty was admired by Voltaire, Abbé Prevost and Alexandre Dumas... A woman who became a classic of French literature...

Fifteen-year-old Julia runs away from home and embarks on an amazing journey, during which she meets a variety of bright personalities: a young photographer, an aspiring pickpocket and a talented girl named Chaika. All these meetings give the heroine food for thought, help her sort herself out and understand what is important in life.