Screenplay
Marquise is a drama about the rise and fall of a beauteous actress. As cheerfully portrayed by Sophie Marceau, the eponymous heroine is an engagingly ribald, but perhaps rather too modern, character. She rises from an impoverished background to become a favourite of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and the mistress of the celebrated Racine, who wrote roles especially for her; but her fate, in the end, is a tragic one.
Novel
Martial is discharged from a mental insitution where he spent a few years due to a serious nervous breakdown. Upon his return he finds his mother, a busy business woman who owns a supermarket chain, convinced that her son will be able to find himself again if tasked with some responsibilities. Soon enough, he's sent to Limoges on a business trip to check on one of their stores in the hope to reinvigorate the failing business. Once he arrives, Martial is faced with responsibilities he had never imagined, including dealing with the store's personnel.