When four distant cousins inherit a 19th-century home in Normandy, they decide to visit and examine their family history. No one has lived there since the 1940s, and the cousins are intrigued by all of the items they find there, little things that help them to understand their ancestor, Adèle Vermillard. Jumping back and forth in time, they meet the mysterious Adèle, whose bohemian lifestyle, and her relationships with the leading artists of the time, changes their lives.
