In this retelling of the story of Hamlet, the young man is a soldier on leave to attend his widowed mother's marriage to his uncle - a marriage which is unpleasantly near in time to the death of his father. Every element of Shakespeare's tragic story is present, except that, this time, Dede refuses to kill anyone, no matter how persistent his father's frustrated ghost is.

In a small town in post-WWII France, 16-year-old Janine tries to improve her conditions by any means necessary. Three people—Michel, a married lover; Raoul, a fellow thief; Mauricette, a photographer she meets in prison—will help her learn from her mistakes.

A history of the French Revolution beginning from the decision of the king to convene the Etats-Generaux in 1789 in order to deal with France's debt problem. Part one spans the event until August 10, 1792 (when the King Louis XVI lost all authority and was imprisoned). Part two carries the story through the end of the terror in 1794.