The book comprises several short stories set in the smallish Baltic country - Latvia - in the years of the Soviet occupation. It does not deal with the shiny facade the soviets wanted to display for all the world to see; it digs deep beneath the skin of the protagonists - a student, a pensioner, a young agriculture specialist fleeing the collective farm, etc.. Some pieces are a little phantasmagorical - the book starts with a short poetical study of the protagonist's love interest - as an ode to two beautiful legs. The last short story in the book - "Storm Approaching" - is a life story compacted in a single day. It has no happy ending (with someone's passing there can be none), but instead it hints at intrinsic human capability to feel really happy despite all the odds.