Apríl 1900 východná časť Stredozemného mora. Na ostrove Mingéria medzi Krétou a Cyprom, v dvadsiatej deviatej provincii Osmanskej ríše, už celé stáročia žijú v ustavičnom napätí pravoslávni Gréci a moslimovia. Po vypuknutí moru hrozí, že sa na ostrove začne povstanie.
In an old mansion in Cennethisar, a former fishing village near Istanbul, an old widow Fatma awaits the annual summer visit of her grandchildren. She has lived in the village for decades, ever since her husband, an idealistic young doctor, first arrived to serve the poor fishermen. Now mostly bedridden, she is attended by her faithful servant Recep, a dwarf and the doctor's illegitimate son.
It is the story of boza seller Mevlut, the woman to whom he wrote three years' worth of love letters, and their life in Istanbul. In the four decades between 1969 and 2012, Mevlut works a number of different jobs on the streets of Istanbul, from selling