He is a wealthy graduate who is working as a translator at a US army base. She is a half-Jewish office clerk, but Philippe, who promises to introduce Rachel to Nietzsche, has no time for religion. Her first and last names give her the gentleness of an ewe and the strength of a stone mason. This is a strength that she will need as Philippe gradually reveals his true colours over the course of a lifetime. Rachel does react β but says nothing β to an overtly anti-Semitic remark Philippe makes on their way to a romantic date.
He is big on picnics by rivers and quite a lover, too. Over time they learn more about one another. She was engaged to a man named Wayne in a prim and proper relationship and he has a prison record that he makes her promise to keep secret.
He was the driver in a hit and run but had a friend stand in for him in Algeria when military service was compulsive. Philippe is a philosopher in his own right with his theories of love that, coupled with his confessions, seem to be testing the limits of any woman.
Rachel takes it all in. And then one day at a fun fair, Philippe lands what you would think would be the final blow.
He tells Rachel that he is not going to get married. He nevertheless offers to help her find a place in Paris if she follows him there, reassuring a shocked Rachel that she would be free to marry while they continue their affair.
