 In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother s death. Overcome with grief, her father refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Dina grows up wild and unmanageable, with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas. She summons her mother s ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living. Family friend Jacob encourages Dina s father to hire Lorch, a tutor who introduces her to the cello. When Dina is old enough, she marries Jacob and moves to Reinsnes, a port he runs with his mother, Karen, and his stepsons Niels and Anders . Niels doesn t like Dina s wild ways, or the fact that she has taken over accounting duties at Reinsnes. Dina s eccentric tendencies become even stronger, eventually leading Jacob into an accident of his own and bringing Tomas back into her life.