This novel was written about communism during the years of the Stalin era in former Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1956. It is a romantic story, having the main focus on how young people reacted to dictatorship in their everyday existence while trying to live a normal life, with love affairs or just enjoying the beauty of the city and all that life has to offer when you are twenty years old. It is the story of a young lady trying to work in offices or taking part in the politics of the moment without being a party member, and her partner, a leading musician in the Czech Philharmonic, for whom acceptance of the regime is easier, as he can escape through his involvement in art. The discussion between her and her lover reveal the differences between individuals accepting or not the demands of that period.