Geroinya romana rodilas' v Leningrade za neskol'ko mesyatsev do nachala voiny i blokady. Odnako molodost' staraetsya zabyt' koshmarnoe proshloe, zhazhdet lyubvi, schast'ya i razvlechenii. A mezh tem marshruty veselykh studencheskikh pohodov prokhodyat nepodaleku ot belorusskikh bolot, v kotorykh gnili kosti ee rodstvennikov, rasstrelyannykh v nesvizhskom getto.