[1] The story takes place in a Belgian seaside town, at a boarding house for convalescing civil servants.

The six male residents' lives change dramatically when two women arrive.

Catherine is a lively, sexually liberated woman willing to kiss, dance, and sleep with the men.

Leonie finds herself attracted to Leon, a Belgian who was a mercenary in Katanga in 1964, He was wounded and carries psychological scars of war.

As Leon courts Leonie, his mother brings him emotional distress as do his memories of war.