The narrative recounts Céline's experiences during what seems to be a hypothetical bombing of an area of Montmartre by the allies on the days preceding D-day.

The whole of the action of this fairly long narrative lasts no more than twelve hours from the beginning of an evening to the morning after.

Louis-Ferdinand Céline started to work on the novel in 1945, while he was living in exile in Denmark.

Those plans were scrapped when Céline was imprisoned, which made him nostalgic about his time in Montmartre.

Fable for Another Time was at various times, as is known through Céline's letters, known as La Bataille du Styx ("The battle of Styx"), Du côte des maudits ("The coast of the damned"), Au vents des maudits ("At the winds of the damned"), and Au vents des maudits pour une autre fois ("At the winds of the damned for another time"), before the writer settled on the final title.