Berlin, early 1930s: the twilight of the Weimar Republic. The German capital is a place of bustling, vibrant, dynamic energy, dazzling the world with technological and cultural innovations. Yet, change is looming... The novel portrays a Berlin of both literary circles and the criminal underworld: fashionable jazz bars contrasted with "tenement barracks" echoing with shouts and profanity; the colorful splendor of department stores set against the drab, disenfranchised lives of those who can only afford to gaze at the shop windows; free love alongside the brutal treatment of orphans; the struggle for women's rights amidst rising fascist sentiment—all these elements shape the plot and reveal the characters of Erni and her friends. They work, frequent theaters, cinemas, and cabarets, read the press, fall in love, and lose their loved ones. A final chapter, set in 1948, reveals whether the war spared them.

The translator’s afterword sheds light on allusions to 20th-century German literary works little known in Russia, while additional commentary provides context regarding the real-life locations featured in the story.