Norka, a German colony in the Volga region of Russia, is the backdrop for this story of love and betrayal during the twilight years of imperial Russia. A German Christian from Norka falls in love with a Jewess from the shtetl of Novaskaya. Life is hard enough for the German minority living amongst the Russians, who resent one group and openly despise the other without having a misguided love affair added to the mix. Will an act of revenge on the star-crossed lovers be the match that ignites the Russian powder keg?