Glavnaya geroinya romana - mladshaya doch kievskogo knyazya Yaroslava Mudrogo - Anna, pokidaet rodnoy dom i otpravlyaetsya v dalekiy put cherez vsyu Evropu, chtoby stat suprugoy korolya Frantsii - Genriha I. Okazavshis v chuzhdom i vrazhdebnom dlya sebya mire, ona stalkivaetsya so mnozhestvom ispytaniy, no nesmotrya ni na chto sohranyaet pamyat o svoey rodine i ostaetsya verna ee traditsiyam i tsennostyam.