In the late nineteenth century, in a poor and forgotten town in the Caucasus, a beautiful girl named Sona grows up with a serious illness that those around her attribute to evil spirits. Poverty, domestic violence, and superstition follow her from childhood into marriage. Through the lives of Sona, Murad, and the madman Danel, the work explores the vulnerability of an ill person in a society where fear and prejudice often outweigh love, reason, and compassion.