"Seventeen-year-old Cécile spends her summer in a villa on the French Riviera with her father and his mistress. Her father, Raymond, is a seductive, worldly, amoral man who has had many affairs. His latest woman friend is Elsa Mackenbourg: she and Cécile get on well.... Cécile, at 17, is still somewhat naïve and tries to disguise this by attempting to attract men of the same age as her father. Her love life is unsuccessful until she meets a man in his 20s, Cyril, with whom she has a romantic but ultimately dissatisfying relationship.... Anne Larsen arrives by way of an earlier invitation from Raymond. A friend of Cécile's late mother... Raymond eventually leaves Elsa for Anne, and the next morning Anne and Raymond announce their impending marriage... Cécile devises a plan to prevent the marriage... Anne leaves, only to drive her car off a cliff in a suspected suicide after she sees Elsa and Raymond in the woods together... Cécile and her father return to the empty, desultory life they were living before Anne interrupted their summer." -- cataloger's summary of various websites.