A modern-day fairy tale for grown-ups. Herbert Strehlow, an antique restorationer and single, travels to Slovakia in 1991 to settle a property claim. There he meets Lea, who hasn’t spoken since childhood. Strehlow falls in love with her on the spot, as Lea bears an uncanny resemblance to his deceased wife. He buys her from her stepparents and takes her, against her will, to Germany where he marries her. The relationship appears doomed to certain failure. Gradually, however, they both begin to penetrate the secretive inner core of the other where they discover a spiritual bond that unites them.