Kalle Päätalo, a construction engineer who wants to be a novelist, struggles writing his first novel. He is torn apart by his own insecurity as a writer and the burning desire to be one. He must abandon his past life before he can finish his first novel. In 1952-1958 Finland was going through stages of postwar reconstruction. Urbanization was only beginning and industrial Finland was taking its first steps. By telling Päätalo’s story, the film draws a picture of life in Finland in the 1950s.