Jacques Romand is a history teacher who has lost faith in his vocation. One evening, witnessing a shopkeeper attacked by three young robbers, he catches one of the aggressors, Victor, a 14-year-old Roma boy.

Finding that he can no longer satisfactorily practice his profession as a teacher, Jacques Romand has resigned. Widowed, with his daughter Laura in Toronto, he lives a solitary life in a house too big for him. There, he pursues his passion for bookbinding and collecting antique books. One day, while shopping in a mini-market, three young thieves attack the manager, after he has surprised them. Two manage to escape, but Jacques intervenes and grasps the third around the waist. This one, a half-Roma, half-Romanian teenager named Victor, is arrested but released as of the next day. Victor, who has a grudge against Jacques for preventing him from bringing money to his uncle Andreas, breaks into Jacques' house and, during the burglary, falls asleep on the owner's bed. When Jacques returns from a meal with teacher friends, he discovers his belongings upside down and... Victor fast asleep. It's the start of an adventure that will ultimately unite these two people from a completely alien world.—Guy Bellinger