Adapted from the novel Une vie by Guy de Maupassant, A Woman's Life is a tale of tormented love embedded in the restrictive social and moral codes of marriage and family in 19th century Normany. Upon finishing her schooling in a convent, young arisocrat Jeanne (Judith Chemla) marries local Viscount Julien de Lamare (Swann Arlaud), who soon reveals himself to be a miserly and unfaithful husband. As she navigates his chronic infidelity, pressure from her family and community, and the alternating joys and burdens of motherhood, Jeanne's rosy illusions about her privileged world are slowly stripped away.