Synopsis

Actually, Juliane Willbrandt, a well-off, attractive widow, is to be envied. She lives in a spacious, beautiful home, owns a sailboat, and has raised a very sensible daughter, Karoline. Nevertheless, Juliane, who naturally dedicated her life to her family, misses the feeling of being needed after the death of her husband. Friends and relatives, all under stress, cannot understand that the emptiness is becoming more and more unbearable. In order to do something useful, Juliane decides to return to her job as a librarian after 20 years, despite her daughter's considerable misgivings. However, the crisis-ridden job market did not wait for them. Only the prison director Schober gives her a chance to rebuild the orphaned prison library. A thankless job, because the heavy boys only read about cars and sports, if at all. Only when Juliane persuaded her schoolmate, the street poet Harry Rowohlt, to give a prison reading did the inmates begin to discover her library. The artistically gifted Albert Tieck became Juliane's first regular reader. However, the cautious approach to the sensitive, reserved man suffers a setback when the director reveals the whole truth about Albert: the cabinet maker set his factory on fire to fake an insurance claim. However, Albert did not tell Juliane that his wife died in the process, for fear that she might turn away in shock. Despite the disappointment about this breach of trust, Juliane approaches Albert again and even persuades the prison psychologist to grant him a day off from prison. When Albert apparently uses this opportunity to escape, Juliane's world collapses at first. Only when she learns his secret is there a chance to help the broken man and pave the way for their love.