This series of five books recounts the tales of the five homosexual men who, over the course of several centuries inhabited the same small mediaeval house in the town of Cannes on the French Riviera. Although the five main characters are all homosexual, the stories are completely universal in nature, dealing with themes that can pertain to any person. The whole series is set on a dark, rather Gothicky stage.
The main themes of this first book, which begins in 1911, are intricately interwoven religious fundamentalism and unrequited love. The story is about a simple young fisherman named Amadéus Capelle, a very confident and physically rather lionesque being, and about the very dogmatically orthodox and unattractive middle-aged Malachie Vansuerenhuyse, who, very much against his exceedingly rigid principles, falls in love with the young man. The novel tells the tale of the many extremely awkward battles the very zealous older of the two wages within himself, and the numerous uncomfortable encounters he has with Amadéus.