Sixteen-year-old Seb, whose origins are unknown, cannot stand boredom. One day he decides to go looking for his biological parents together with a friend. He finds out that his father's name is Pierre Van Hove, then meets several men with this name and tries to ingratiate himself with one of them. Everything goes smoothly until he meets the seductive Julie, Pierre's daughter and perhaps his sister.

September 1940. Henri Marre arrives alone in Vichy as the authoritarian regime settles in. Broke, estranged from his family, and carrying copies of his self-published manifesto Notre Salut (Our Salvation), the 49-year-old is determined to secure what he believes is his rightful place in the new administration. In his writing, Henri sets out his patriotic convictions and his engineer’s methodology: efficiency above all. Claiming he wants to help save France after defeat, he does whatever is required to remain useful, serving the machinery of the new order with increasing skill. But he may be pursuing something more urgent: escape from his own ruin