We witness the race for marriage of thousands of young people, wanting at all costs to escape conscription, then we are transported to the war factories and we thus witness the difficulties of work in this place. Then it's the Italian campaign in 1943 and, finally, the return to Quebec where readjustment to civilian life proves more difficult than it seems. These events are experienced and told by the voice of a young man.

Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.

An explorer is tasked by Samuel de Champlain to learn the language and culture of the Hurons. Étienne Brûlé subsequently adopts their culture. By his mistakes, he causes the fall of the city of Québec, conquered by the English. Declared a traitor, he returns to live within the Hurons.

In a little village at the end of the 1890's, a young woman offends all the 'right-thinking' villagers by allowing men in her house in the absence of her husband. When he is found dead, all of the suspicion is directed towards the liberal woman. She is judged more for her morality then for the crime she is accused of. Her culpability is still a subject of debate today.

A widow must cope with her late husband's associates, crooked Japanese businessmen who want her shares of a rich Northern Quebec land and a Jewish con man who wants to get a hand of her mysterious synthetic fur coat.