1790 Turku. After Katarina Thorwöst becomes a widow, there are many suitors, but her heart belongs to the fencing teacher lieutenant Carl-Magnus Schildt.
In the early 1800s, Finnish governor's daughter first detests but soon falls in love with Russian Czar Alexander I who has just taken Finland over from Sweden's rule.
Dentist Lauri Liesi is performing as a magician in the Hotel Metropol. Meanwhile, during his performance top-secret letters of engineer Arpila are stolen from his room. Mr. Liesi is then being accused of the theft. To clear his name he starts to investigate and search the culprits from the criminal underworld. With the help of a former circus man Romonen he begins to unveil the truth.
Two Finnish naval captains face spies in Gothenburg harbor during the second world war.
Once a naïve, love-struck girl now forsaken by her lover, Maija leaves her island home to work as a housemaid in the city, only to be seduced by her employer's son Erkki, then forced to leave the household in order to avoid the scandal of a pregnancy. With few prospects for a decent job, Maija is reduced to working as a bar hostess to make ends meet, ever fending off the advances of disreputable clients, even as she continues to hold out hope for an enduring love that will redeem her from her fate.