Smadar and Mirit, both 18 years old, are assigned to patrol the streets of Jerusalem together, as part of their military service. They are assigned to detain any Palestinian passerby, check their papers, and register their details in special forms. However, the two young girls are immersed in the tidbits of their own lives- their romantic crushes, their breakups, and the relationship evolving between the two of them. Until one day, Jerusalem's political rally is forced upon them.

Karen, a young woman from the baltic countries, marries fisherman Antonio to escape from a prisoners camp.

On the day that World War II ends in Europe, Mayor George Boswell recalls events of the previous 25 years in his home town of Browdley. As councilman and newspaper editor George has fought hard to better working and living conditions in the bleak Lancashire mill town. As a young man he meets and marries Olivia Channing, whose father was jailed in a scandal involving the mill he owned. Olivia is ambitious and manages to guide George within striking distance of a seat in Parliament. But an outbreak of diphtheria changes George's outlook, and his and Olivia's lives change forever.