It's 1940 and Iskra Polyako is a self-assured Komsomolka being brought up by a mother who is fanatically devoted to the Communist Party. At the birthday party for one of her classmates, Iskra hears the verses of the poet Sergei Yesenin. She enjoys his poetry, but considers him alien to Soviet culture. She was taught this; and Iskra's ideals are inviolable and clear-cut. However, it doesn't take the girl long to discover that the reality of repressions, which had reached their peak four years before, are very much still the norm.