The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

Vasoula is a poor girl who works as a secretary for a cranky older lady, Ms Kleio who loves novels with knights and lives secluded in her mansion with her butler Aristeidis. One day, in the absence of Ms Kleio, Vasoula is visited by a couple, Popi and Mitsos Bezestainis who ask if they can stay. The sudden return of Ms Kleio causes great upheaval kai Vasoula is forced to introduce Mitsos as her husband, who is a sailor and often away. When Ms Kleio dies, she leaves her entire estate to Vasoula whom she mentions in her will as "wife of Dimitrios Bezestainis". Now, the problems begin, and they can only be solved when Vasoula marries Mitsos.