After being neglected as a child, Rita gives birth to six children of her own and challenges her mother in forcing her to act as a parent to her grandchildren.

Rita flees to Belgium with her baby because she is wanted for theft and other offences in Germany. She sets out in search of her natural father whom she has never met. But he has a wife and children. Rita’s sudden appearance causes complications in the family. She is eventually arrested by the Belgian police and deported to Germany where she serves a lengthy prison sentence.
During this time, Rita’s four other children live with Rita’s mother Isabella. She runs a restaurant and has little time for the children. Fanny, the eldest, has to look after her siblings.

After Rita is released from prison, she takes her children back again – against the wishes of her mother Isabella. With the help of Marc – an American soldier stationed in Germany – an almost normal family life develops. But Rita doesn’t trust Marc’s feelings. They don’t fit into the pattern of her previous experiences. Rita resumes her former lifestyle. She sees other men and pilfers with a girlfriend. When Marc announces he is to be posted back in the USA, Rita’s life is thrown off balance.