The Garret on Boulevard Voltaire follows the life of 23-year-old Charlotte McGuire, an American traveling to Paris in 1964 to study French. She meets a charming medical student named Jean-Luc, who shocks her by proposing marriage when it’s time for her to return to America. Her joy soon fades to doubt when she hears how French husbands often keep a mistress, reminding Charlotte of her parents’ disastrous divorce after her philandering father broke her mother’s heart. Haunted by the legacy of her mother’s anguish, Charlotte must decide if she trusts Jean-Luc or if she should pursue the safe, stable life of a woman who couldn’t quite bring herself to marry for love.