A summer house by Lake Chiemsee: For the family of young Isabella, building a holiday home fulfills a dream. But who would have thought at the time of planning and construction that this small wooden house would one day play a fateful role in the lives of its owners? Beginning with her childhood in Munich, where she grew up as the daughter of wealthy parents, Isabella recounts her marriage to a writer, the war years and the resulting impoverishment of the family, the birth of her son, and finally the post-war turmoil and the slow rebuilding process.