Small steppe town in Volga region. Old wooden houses in center, rotting Khrushchev on outskirts. Provincial boredom and hopelessness are opposed by two people, an Orthodox priest and a choir director, she is also a Sunday school teacher. The situation might seem normal, if not for one circumstance. The priest is a Frenchman, a former Catholic monk who converted to Orthodoxy. The regent is an Englishwoman, a philologist, and a former Protestant. They are in love with Russia and believe that it is here that they have found their place on Earth.