After the divorce of her parents, Colette gets sent to her grandfather's who she never really knows. Mrs. Lapierre, her new governess is very severe indeed. Later, due to their disputes, Colette runs away from home and gets sick.

Hugo Santiago and writers Juan José Saer and Jorge Semprún move back and forth between Paris and the city of Aquilea in a shadowy fable about exile. The frontier between one city and the other begins to blur after Bandoneonist Rodolfo Mederos is visited by his sister, a member of a guerrilla organization.