At the age of eighty-two. Lina Braake loses her home. The bank has plans to develop the site and her house is about to be pulled down. Against her will, she is placed in an old people's home on the outskirts of the city. The shock of her move renders Lina passive to what is happening to her. But some of the inmates take an interest in her, especially Gustaf Hartlein, an undischarged bankrupt, and it slowly becomes clear to her that the bank has cheated her. She begins to think about revenge, and finds an able helper in Hartlein. Together, they defraud the bank of a large sum of money, and Lina leaves the old people's home for Sardinia, to visit the family of a migrant worker she had befriended. With her new-found wealth, she buys them a house on the condition that she can live there as well, to the end of her life. But the authorities trace her movements and bring her back to Germany. Because of her age, all charges against her are dropped, and she is returned to the old people's home. Hartlein is waiting for her and they make fresh plans. Perhaps next summer they should go to Sardinia together . . . after all, no one can take away her right to live in that house. , .