It's the beginning of the summer. In a village in the north of Turkey, Lale and her four sisters come home from school, innocently playing with boys. The supposed debauchery of their games causes a scandal with unintended consequences. The family home slowly turns into a prison, classes on housework and cooking replace school, and marriages begin to be arranged.

After being raped, a young girl is condemned to death by the people in her village to get rid of the shame it brought her family. When the man who is to kill her runs away with her instead, they set off on a journey through past and present-day Turkey to escape their fate and start a new life.