Normandy, 1819. Freshly graduated with a convent education, Jeanne le Perthuis des Vauds, an over-protected and innocent young woman filled with naive dreams, marries the Vicomte Julien de Lamare who swiftly proves himself to be violent, unfaithful and a skinflint to boot. Jeanne quickly loses her childish illusions.
 
Acclaimed director Stéphane Brizé (winner of the Mel Hoppenheim Prix du Public for Mademoiselle Chambon), inspired by a Guy de Maupassant novel, traces the life of Jeanne le Pertuis des Vauds from ages 18 to 45 during the first half of the 19th century. Brizé tracks the tragic “death of innocence”, and unveils an earlier history of women’s travails than that of Madame Bovary.