On the night of 22 December 1980, a plane crashes on the Franco-Swiss border and is engulfed in flames. Out of 169 passengers, 168 are killed instantly. The miraculous sole survivor is a newborn baby.

But the identity of the child is unknown, and two families - one rich and affluent, and the other poor - step forward to claim her. So begins a private investigation that wil go on for the next 18 years....

The novel opens on the eve of the girl's 18th birthday. For years now Credule Grand-Duc has been trying to uncover the truth about the child's identity - is she Emilie or Lyse-Rose? And now it seems he has discovered a terrible secret. He plans to take his own life but not before he places his account of the investigation in the girl's hands. However someone else gets to him first....