In 1953, a flood adding to the aftermath of World War II swells the numbers of Dutch emigrants. On a KLM flight to New Zealand, part of a race from London, Frank de Rooy (Waldemar Torenstra), who lost his family and colonial estate in the Japanese occupation and Indonesian civil war of Independence, meets some virtual mail order brides. Ada van Holland (Karina Smulders) becomes his lover before confessing she's already married by proxy to gloomy Calvinist Derk Visser (Micha Hulshof). Jewish concentration-camp survivor Esther Cahn (Anna Drijver) dodges her engagement for a fashion career and discreetly has her son Bobby (Mykola Allen) adopted by infertile Marjorie Mullin (Elise Shaap), who did everything else right with husband Hans (Mattijn Hartemink). Over the years, some of their paths cross again, and all of the survivors meet at Frank's funeral.