Michael Schäffer is among the Westerners whose families are killed in the great tsunami while on holiday at Thailand's Phuket beach. So is Billi Cramer, who is less introvert and hence accepts a Greek international relief force therapist's advice to seek contact with a compatriot in the same position. They got on so well there may be a real relationship in the making, but the grief still weighs heavily.
A village in Ukraine, near the Russian border. The only thing that slightly disturbs the peace there is the occasional death of an elderly person. That is also why Anatoly returns there: to take care of his dying mother.