The widow of a resistance leader, Judith Therpauve, agrees to take over a large daily, established after the liberation of France. But she is soon under pressure from dirty dealings, on the one hand, and labor demands, on the other.

Judith Therpauve, who was "Queen" at the time of the Resistance, is asked by her former friends, co-owners like her from the regional newspaper La Libre République, to take charge of the daily. When it goes wrong, she soon realizes that her newspaper's poor financial health is orchestrated by a businessman who wants to buy it at a low price. Judith manages to boost sales, but the unfair maneuvers follow one another and force her to sell. Little supported by her staff, feeling useless and alone, she commits suicide.—Patrice Chéreau