Bitter in the wake of his divorce, Mark, a Parisian literary columnist, retaliates by writing an autobiographical novel with a misogynist leanings called "Love Lasts Three Years," which he publishes under a pseudonym. At his grandmother’s funeral, he meets Alice, who lives with his cousin. Marc and Alice hit it off right away and begin a love affair. The only hitch is that Alice thinks his book is juvenile and trite, so he tries to conceal from her the fact that he’s the author.