Alice and Albert Graves live together since thirty old years. Because Albert had the heart problem, they are left from that Albert touch his pension for a country house. Their house is enough far of the town and is surrounded of woods and of one marsh worrying. Their daytime was calm between the vegetable garden and the bed. When he arrive a heating failure, a young man come to do the repair of installation. : Richard Atlee. It’s a human being strange and shy. Alice strike up a frienship with him, and , don’t resist to mother him. After futhers invitations, the young man decide one day to live in a shed situate in their cellar. The life of Alice and Albert become ponctuated by the coming and going of their strange lodger. The maternal instinct of Alice who has being repressed in deeper of herself by lack of children re-done surface with a insane violence, she lives only that to rythm of noise that do Richard to deep of his hole. The familial ambiancy begin to be unsupportable, the tension to bosom of couple is maximum. Until to day where, Richard decide to take the pungle and to pass the door of basement. To part of this day, he go to become the son that Alice and Albert haven’t never had and all the three look like happy of this situation.
Richard is of one gratitude without limit for this couple, so kind and who occupied so well of him, then for their show all his love, he go to help them of best that he can : the garden, the flowers, the cook... he do almost all. If in the first time this situation touch Albert and Alice but they feel very quickly unless and the daytime begins to their appear very long. But Richard aren’t cousiouness of that, and he do all the tasks. The exasperation grown of more in more and the quarrel are of more in more frequency to bosom of couple. The ambiancy become heavy, unbreatheable. Alice and Albert decide then to ask to Richard of leave, but he don’t understand and finaly return live in the cellar. The case is closed, the old anger of each caracters redone surface, the love is mixed to the hate, the indifference of people of town, the contempt of local police, all lead to this ambiancy of fear until that ending. We don’t get out uninjured of this book.