Black Sea. White-maned waves roll under the very terrace of a cozy house with a tiled roof and green shutters. Here in the cottage village of Armatluk, near Koktebel, lives with his wife and daughter, the old Zemstvo doctor Ivan Ilyich Sarganov. Tall, thin, gray-haired, he most recently was a regular participant in the Pirogov congresses, first came into conflict with the tsarist authorities (he called for the abolition of the death penalty, then he declared a world war as a massacre), then with the Bolsheviks, speaking out against mass executions. Arrested by "emergency", he was sent under escort to Moscow, but remembered his youth, two escape from the Siberian exile, and jumped off the train at night. His friends helped him hide in the Crimea under the protection of the White Guard army, surrounded by the same neighbors, who were longing for a revolutionary storm.

The Sartanovs live very poorly - lean borsch, boiled potatoes without butter, tea from rosehips without sugar ... Academician Dmitrevsky and his wife, Natalya Sergeevna, come on a frosty February evening. She is concerned about the loss of her beloved diamond ring, which only Princess Andozhskaya could take. What need can bring people to, if this beauty, the widow of a naval officer, who was burned alive by sailors in the furnace of a steamer, decided to steal! Natalya Sergeevna says that the Agapovs were knocked out at night, and the priest was set on fire in the kitchen. The peasant feels that the Bolsheviks are close, approach Perekop and will be here in two weeks. The Dmitrevskys worry about Dmitry’s son, an officer in the Volunteer Army. Suddenly, he appears on the threshold with the words: “Peace be with you!” Between Mitya and the daughter of Ivan Ilyich Katya, love is born. But is it now up to her? In the morning the officer should return to the unit, he became rougher, sharper, told how he shot at people, how he discovered the real face of the people - stupid, greedy, cruel: “What hopeless cynicism, what indecency! In the most precious, in the most treasured for him, they spit in the face - in his god! And he broke the peak, whistles and peels the seeds. What will Rublev, Vasnetsov, Nesterov say to his soul now? ”

Katya is a different person striving to get away from extremes. She is busy with everyday worries about piglets, chickens, knows how to extract interest from cooking, washing. She becomes uneasy from the well-fed, carefree atmosphere of the Agapovs' house, where, together with Dmitry, she takes the things of their murdered son Mark. How strange this festive table and elegant sisters Asya and Maya look with diamond earrings in their ears, music, poems ... But in the village the debate does not cease: will they let the red ones go to Crimea or not? Will there be order? Will it get worse?

But some with any power are good. Former soloist of the imperial theaters Belozerov once bought candles at 25 kopecks per pound, and in difficult times sold 2 rubles to friends. Now he is the chairman of the board, a member of some commissions, committees, seeks popularity, assent to the peasants. And he has everything: flour, sugar, and kerosene. And Katya with great difficulties received a sack of flour in the cooperative. But they didn’t take him to the house alone, and the villagers didn’t want to help, they were swaying: “Drag on your ridge. But she doesn’t rely on the ridges of others. ” However, a kind man is also there, helping to pack his bag, saying: “Yes, the people have gone mad ...” My dear tells how the Cossacks came to their village to wait: “Feed them, drink. Everyone takes whatever they look at - a fur coat, boots. How many wild boars were cut, geese, chickens, that wines drank. My son-in-law began to seize a horse, he does not. Then to him from the livrera to the forehead. They threw them into the ditch and left. ”

It’s a passionate week. Somewhere you hear deaf tears. Some say that the Bolsheviks are firing at the city, while others - the white ones are exploding artillery depots. Summer residents in dismay. The poor are rumored to organize a revolutionary committee. Everywhere, Bolshevik agitators, red scouts are traveling around. Under the guise of a search, some dubious persons take money, valuables.

The day came when the whites fled from the Crimea. Soviet power began with the mobilization of all male residents by digging trenches. Whether old or sick - go. One priest died on the way. Ivan Ilyich was also driven, although he barely walked. Only the intervention of the nephew of Leonid Sartanov-Sedoy, one of the leaders of the revolutionary committee, saved the old man from overwork. Leonid conducts a demonstration trial of the young Red Army soldiers who robbed the Agapov family, and Katya rejoices at the many-voiced will of the crowd.

Relations between summer residents and the new government are different. Belozerov offers his services in organizing a subdivision of theater and art, occupies luxurious rooms, assuring that "he was always a communist to his liking." Academician Dmitrevsky is assigned to head the department of public education, and he attracts Katya as secretary. Affairs turned out to be a lot. Katya was kind to a simple person, she knew how to listen, question, advise. However, relations with the new bosses are not working out well, because being direct and frank in nature, she thought what she said. A serious conflict arises between Katya and the head of the housing department, Seidberg. The girl, feldsheritsa Sorokina, who was evicted from the apartment, offers a refuge in her room, but the housing department does not allow: to whom we issue a warrant, we will share it. Having gone all day at authorities, women turn to Seidberg and stumble upon a blank wall. Surely something struck Katya, and in a fit of despair she shouts: “When will this boorish kingdom end?” Immediately she was taken to a special department and put in cell “B” - a cellar with two narrow vents, without light. But the girl does not give up and declares during interrogation: “I was in tsarist prisons, tsarist gendarmes interrogated me. And I’ve never seen such a brutal attitude towards prisoners. ” What helped Katya - a kinship with Leonid Sedym or simply the lack of guilt - is unknown, but she will soon be released ...

The first of May is approaching. The house announces: whoever does not decorate his house with red flags will be brought to trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal. They also threaten those who will not go to the demonstration. General participation!

Makhnovists appeared in Crimea. All on horseback or on carts, hung with weapons, drunk, arrogant. They raided a cart, in which Katya and Leonid returned home, and began to demand a horse. Leonid shoots a revolver and rushes with Katya into the mountains. There is a strong firing, one of the bullets injures the girl's hand. The fugitives manage to escape, and Leonid thanks his sister for his courage: “It is a pity that you are not with us. We need those, "

Suddenly, an order comes from Moscow to arrest Ivan Ilyich. His acquaintances are bothering about the release, but the situation is complicated, and the Crimea again passes into the hands of the White Guards. Before leaving, the Reds shoot the prisoners, but Leonid again rescues Sartanova. His wife dies from an accidental bullet, and his second daughter, Vera, a convinced communist, recently shot home, was shot by Cossacks. Again there are commandant offices, counterintelligence, arrests are going on ... Busted summer residents are asked to return what was taken away by the commissars. Katya is trying to protect Academician Dmitrevsky, who was seized for cooperation, but to no avail. Alienation lies between her and Dmitry. Gradually weakening and dying from scurvy, Ivan Ilyich. Left alone, Katya sells things and, without saying goodbye to anyone, leaves the village in the middle of nowhere.