The novel is set in nineteenth century Paris, alternating between lulls and struggles for freedom. Deeply affected by his parents’ premature deaths, Louis Lefèvre is raised by his aunt. Pampered and loved, the boy is still withdrawn and ill-tempered. But at a very young age, Louis shows a gift for composing and finds shelter in music. Drawn to the ideal of social justice, Louis participates in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848 and 1871, and dreams of dedicating a majestic symphony to them.

Despite his peerless talent, Louis is reluctant to have his work played in public. His mental issues worsen: in a fit of near madness and consumed by self-hatred, he destroys his work. A string of unhappy love affairs enlarges the abyss of his madness: for him, a love of beauty is paired with an irresistible attraction to violence that pushes him towards transgression...

Louis Lefèvre dreams of composing a work in honor of the Commune. But, falling prey to the psychological problems that rein his genius in, he disavows and destroys his own creations. Mocked and abandoned by his wife, Louis goes out of his mind and tries to rape his own daughter. A poignant portrait of a musician who could have inspired Proust’s character Vinteuil.