At almost 19, Marius feels in a rut in Marseille, where his life has been planned out for him by his cafe'-owning father, while he longs for the sea. The night before he is to leave on a 5-year voyage, Fanny, a girl he grew up with, reveals that she is in love with him, and he discovers that he is in love with her. He must choose between an exciting life at sea and a boring life with the woman he loves. And Fanny must choose between keeping the man she loves and letting him live the life he seems to want.—John Oswalt