American-born Corbeau Rochefort faces harassment as an outsider while attending school in France, avoiding eye contact with everyone, except the young man who smiles whenever they cross paths. Her happiness with the blossoming romance soon diminishes, disrupted by a brutal assault that leaves Corbeau stunned. Too ashamed to tell anyone, she hides the torment, her soul growing darker with each passing day. An instinct she cannot suppress triggers an act of retribution, the aftermath far beyond what she intended and leading to an interrogation by law enforcement.

Though physical marks from the attack fade, temptation to fly from her favorite cliff continues to build, heightened by a fear of venturing into public spaces, of people judging her, and how everyone would shun Corbeau if they discovered the secret she holds within. She finds solace by befriending a fellow victim called Sylvie. Her peace, however, dissipates when the classmate’s parents find the girl deceased at home, clutching a four-word note addressed to Corbeau in her hand. 

The Rochefort family visits relatives in Pennsylvania several months later. A protective aunt takes her nieces to a grocery store, forced to intervene when Corbeau knocks a man into his shopping cart, accusing him of accosting her younger sister. Nervous in the presence of males and emotionally fragile, she struggles to function beyond the shelter of solitude. Will Corbeau overcome her trepidation for one half of the population and forge a normal life, perhaps one day fall in love? Or will she sweep aside every man who wanders too close, threatening her with a glance? What did Sylvie’s note say? Will the words inspire Corbeau, or haunt her?