England, late 1950's. Rosemarie is a hard-working young woman who lives with her aging and embittered father, Austrian émigré Friedrich. While he tries in vain to reclaim the estate taken from them in the War, her life is split between the dance hall and the gruelling routine of her work. Change comes for them both, however, in the form of charming married-man Anton, Friedrich's old friend, whose sudden arrival triggers love, loss and longing.