Bjartur has worked as a laborer for eighteen years to one day own his own farm. He calls his meager property Sumarhus, which is located in the inhospitable heathland. Bjartur is determined to be a free and independent man, his own master - to this goal, he sacrifices the happiness and health of his family. Stubbornly, he brings about the death of his wife, and his second wife also succumbs in the bitter struggle for survival. After many lean years and a few good ones, Bjartur is finally forced to put Sumarhus up for auction. But he does not resign. Together with his beloved stepdaughter Asta Sollilja, he sets out to even more distant regions to build a new farm. However, in the whispers of the ailing Sollilja, his "flower of life," the voice of death can already be heard.