Depuis une sérieuse dispute avec son frère Fred, qui lui servait de modèle, Viviane, photographe professionnelle, a mis en veilleuse ses ambitions artistiques. Or, le hasard lui fait rencontrer Guillaume, un jeune mécanicien dont la photogénie naturelle l'inspire. Réticent, ce dernier se laisse convaincre de poser pour Viviane qui, retrouvant son énergie créatrice, fait de lui le sujet d'un projet d'exposition. Bientôt, l'artiste constate que le jeune homme, qui vit toujours chez ses parents, porte les stigmates d'un douloureuse expérience familiale, qui le rend asocial et autodestructeur. Tout en cherchant à percer le mystère de Guillaume, Viviane tente un rapprochement avec son frère.

A young woman, living with her parents and siblings on a remote farm in harsh, picturesque northern Québec, has three suitors: a steady and unimaginative farmer, Eutrope, the Americanized and wealthy Lorenzo, who has sought his fortune in Boston, and François Paradis, a rough and virile logger who captures her heart despite the warnings of her parents and the village priest. For a year, marked by seasonal change in an atmosphere charged with the strangeness of Indians and the demons of the woods, we see Maria at work and prayer, struggling with decisions, choosing to stay in Canada, in love with François, seeking to change his rough behaviors, and dealing with extraordinary loss.

Suzie and Samuel have known each other since childhood. With their friend Judith, they form a friendly trio. Now in their mid-twenties, at the age when everything is possible but nothing is easy, they find themselves at a crossroads.