A middle-class family, on the surface happy and perfect, are close to disintegration due to the father's escalating alcoholism. After several years of failure and broken promises, they finally give him an ultimatum. However, they must soon recognize that the solution rests on everyone's shoulders.
One day at the end of the 1800s, 14-year-old Lise’s life is changed forever. She is the eldest of her siblings, the first in her family to go to school and full of hope and confidence in life. But when her mother goes into labour, it quickly appears that something is wrong. As night falls and the labour progresses, Lise begins to understand that a day that began in childhood might end with her becoming the woman of the house.