Marie, who works as a successful door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, has been married to her husband Francois for 12 years and has a two-year-old son. Though she is relatively content with her life, she feels something is wanting. Enter 50-year old African-American Bill. Initially she is annoyed by his insouciance, but she finds that she is irresistibly attracted to him. Soon the two are in the midst of sordid illicit affair. She knows little about her new lover, and he seems uninterested in learning about her, but the long sessions of lovemaking are something else entirely. Feeling out of control, Marie is increasingly repelled by her own actions. Psychologically, she struggles to reconcile her torrid encounters with Bill and mundane domestic chores such as bathing her son. Moreover, she finds herself incapable of hiding her adulterous behavior, rather she comes home with scratches and hickeys all over her body, to the devastation Francois.

玛丽的工作是上门推销百科全书，一日在工作中，她与黑人男子标尔相遇了，这个奇怪的陌生人让玛丽感觉十分奇怪。随着接触的深入，玛丽对标尔产生了奇异的感情，饱含着欲望和激情。终于，玛丽迈出了背叛婚姻的第一步，让她感到意外的是，她和托尔的鱼水之欢让她得到了莫大的快感。身体上获得满足的玛丽在精神上不断的自责着，可是事态的发展已经完全的脱离了她的掌控……

Marie, 35 ans, représentante en encyclopédies, aime son mari Francois, qui désire avoir un deuxieme enfant. Mais Marie hésite, sans trop savoir pourquoi. Un jour, elle rencontre un client singulier, Bill, noir américain d'une cinquantaine d'années. D'abord intriguée, elle tombe peu à peu sous son charme...

Marie ist Mitte dreißig, hat einen Sohn mit ihrem langjährigen Partner und verkauft Enzyklopädien. Eines Tages lernt sie den Afroamerikaner Bill kennen und beginnt mit ihm eine heiße Affäre, sodass Marie bald zwischen ihrer Liebe zu Mann und Sohn und der Lust auf den Geliebten innerlich zerrissen ist.

Marie vende enciclopedie ed è sposata da 12 anni con Francois, ma negli ultimi tempi la loro vita sessuale non sembra più soddisfarla. Un giorno, durante un appuntamento di lavoro a domicilio, conosce Bill, un ballerino afroamericano in visita a Parigi; i due, dopo un terzo incontro, cominciano un'appassionata e sfrenata relazione, esclusivamente fisica, senza alcun coinvolgimento emotivo. Marie, lasciatasi trascinare dalla passione, comincia disinteressarsi del lavoro ed a trascurare il marito e il figlioletto di due anni; Francois, scoperta la relazione, abbandona la moglie. Tempo dopo, Marie e l'ex marito si incontrano ad una festa e nonostante l'adulterio abbia mandato a monte il loro matrimonio, capiscono di amarsi ancora.

Marie tiene 35 años y ama a François, con el que lleva casada doce años. Tiene un hijo pequeño, Paul. François desea tener otro hijo, pero Marie duda, sin saber muy bien por qué. Vendedora de enciclopedias a domicilio, una mañana conoce a un cliente singular, Bill, un afroamericano de cincuenta años que vive en una casa de la que parece no salir nunca. El primer encuentro es difícil. Marie, que la principio se siente ofendida y después intrigada por el personaje, poco a poco empieza a disfrutar de las conversaciones que ambos mantienen y de algo más...