How much of the past fits into a single life? Marie is a psychotherapist, a wife, a mother - a woman who has found her place. But when she encounters her first love on a North Frisian island, something breaks open that she thought she had long buried. The memories take her back to the late seventies when her father forced her to study agricultural sciences to take over the farm instead of following her dreams. It was a time between departure and obedience, between two men who couldn't be more different. Monika von Bothmer tells the story of a Westphalian farming family in alternating time frames from 1879 to the present, where silence weighs heavier than words. It’s about women who buried their longings and one who refuses to do the same. The clay on Marie's shoes symbolizes the stubborn attachment to her origins - and at the same time, the ground on which something new can grow. A novel about guilt, freedom, and the power of understanding - for readers who love psychologically rich family stories with historical depth.