Robert Bousquet

Set during the bloody and turbulent years of the French Revolution, it follows the life and exploits of François-Séverin Marceau, an idealistic and courageous young man who would become one of the most famous generals of the First Republic.

The charismatic, surly son of a wealthy industrialist, Clément, leads a double life as a member of a right-wing extremist organization. When he’s ratted out after a failed assassination attempt on a prominent politician, Clément and his long-suffering wife Anne flee Paris to the idyllic country home of his childhood friend, pacifist print-maker Paul. As affection blossoms between Paul and Anne, the emotional, as well as political tensions, soar and eventually explode.

A Paris real estate developer feels compelled to withdraw from his seemingly perfect life into a world of his own. Is the man going insane? By conventional standards, maybe, but it's clear that the life he's fleeing is madder still from his point of view, and since that point of view is unfailingly witty and astute, we even come to accept his delusions as more "real" than reality.

Vincent Vivant agrees to Stephan the spy's proposal: he is to cross the border with a mysterious suitcase.