The last decade (1937-47) of the poet Hans Fallada's life. He lives with his family in Carwitz. His craving for harmony collides with the circumstances of the times and his own inner turmoil. He writes already anything of note, drinks and takes pills. His wife Anna sees him through his times of darkest depression, tolerating his overt aggression and his affair with the house maid Anneliese. But once he begins a relationships with the manufacturer's widow Ursula Losch, Anna finally calls for a divorce. His love for the pretty, young Ursula delivers him a new thirst for life, but only for a brief time. She is a morphine addict and pulls him further down into the abyss. The high-times are followed by increasingly deeper low-times. After the end of the war, the Red Army sets him up as a mayor, but Fallada fails at functioning in such an unfamiliar position, numbing himself with more alcohol and morphine.