Delia Peletier has been paid to have a child for a wealthy man who wants an heir. She has the baby and turns it over to her "employer," but subsequently decides she wants the child back.
Paul, a former womanizer, marries the head of the medical department's "unattractive" daughter Christine because he thinks attractive women can't be trusted and make poor wives.
"A family of Polish immigrants has a difficult time adjusting to life in the United States. The story centers on the son, named Janek, who has trouble fitting in at school and with his family.
In a French seaside town, at a boarding house for civil servants recovering from surgery and maladies, the six male residents' lives change dramatically when two women arrive: Catherine, lively, sexually liberated, willing to kiss, dance, and sleep with the men, and Leonie, reserved, formal, conservative.