Paul is preparing to leave Tajikistan, while thinking back on his adolescent years. His childhood, his mother's madness, the parties, the trip to the USSR where he lost his virginity, the friend who betrayed him and the love of his life.

Claire is a midwife in a maternity hospital. She is humane and helpful and gives herself entirely to her patients. But her life is not a bed of roses for all that. Her maternity is about to close its doors and the devoted woman is determined not to work in...