Esther, a Turkish emigrant, was naturalized French and now lives in Paris. Only her daughter Sarah has followed her. The child grows up in a cold boarding school, far from her mother, whose motives and stubbornness she does not understand, especially since Esther no longer visits or writes to her. Sarah thinks she has been abandoned. In reality, Esther, ill from so many hardships, does not want to reveal her condition to her daughter.