In which the timid and simple-minded Jean-Jacques Rouget inherits his father’s estate and finds himself gently cared for and dominated by Flore Brazier, the former peasant girl whose beauty and cunning transform the household into a place of homely comfort and subtle power. Over the course of nine years, their peculiar relationship deepens, marked by Flore’s growing control, the introduction of a young officer into their lives, and the quiet rhythms of rural existence in early nineteenth-century France.