Empathetic and poetic, Jean-Luc Seigle tells the story of a woman's passion and desires in this dense, intense novel. She is attractive and talented, yet repeatedly fails to fulfill her desires. This true story is recounted through the main character, Pauline, as she sits in a house in Morocco writing her tale. It is the tragic story of a young and gifted woman who works for a German military doctor during the German occupation of France and becomes his lover. After the liberation of France, men from the Resistance take terrible revenge on her. Later, Pauline studies in Paris, wanting to reveal her feelings to her great love, Félix, but he rejects her because of her past. In a fit of rage, she kills Félix. In 1950, she is sentenced to death, which is later commuted to life imprisonment.