The French Riviera of the mid-1920s is the new playground for rich Americans, among them elegant heiress Nicole Warren and her husband, ambitious psychiatrist Dick Diver. The Divers' renowned hospitality brings celebrities and socialites flocking to their villa, but when a starlet called Rosemary Hoyt finds her way into their charmed circle, the consequences are devastating.

Naive and inexperienced, Rosemary sparks the decline in a relationship already destabilized by a dark secret and undermined by destructive illusions.
Tender is the Night (1934) has a poignancy linked to the author's personal experiences with his wife, Zelda.