Rose, an alluring young woman, is hired by a Southern family to care for their children, and changes their lives forever. She is an innocent who relates to everyone she meets in the only way she knows how-- with sexuality she cannot restrain. The mother of the family takes Rose under her wing, offering love and protection, while the teenaged son finds Rose both his fantasy and a profound mystery.

During WWI, a French battalion is ordered on a suicide mission that is likely to fail. When it does, the general that planned the mission selects three soldiers from the battalion to be executed for cowardice, and selects their leader as their attorney.