Laurence is the central figure through whom readers see and experience all other relationships. She is married to Jean-Charles, an architect; they have two daughters. Laurence is an advertising executive who invents slogans and designs to sell products.

The "belles images" or "pretty pictures" she creates color her view of the world around her. Even her husband and children have to conform to a beautiful image, just as she was the image of a model child for her parents.

After ten years of marriage to JeanCharles, she feels that the physical attraction between them has seriously diminished. As a passing fancy she enters into a very casual affair with her colleague Lucien, only to leave him without regret when the latter makes demands on her time. We, the readers, learn that she had a nervous breakdown. It is intimated that she was unable to live with the knowledge...