Parisian interior decorator Paule is 39 years old and in a relationship with Roger, constantly unfaithful.

Near the brink of bankruptcy, she takes on a new client, a wealthy American socialite who lives in a large apartment in the 16eme arrondissement with her son, 25-year-old Simon.

Immediately, Simon falls in love with Paule. He courts her passionately, and almost reluctantly, she reciprocates by falling in love with him.

What happens thereafter is a story (Aimez-vous Brahms?) about exploring boundaries and power relations.

When is an age difference too noticeable between two lovers? Between Simon and Paule are her 14 additional years of life experience, which causes people around them to gossip, and for Paule to question herself: Is she too old for Simon, whose attractiveness is of such degree that he turns heads wherever he goes?

Is it immoral of her, an adult, to seduce him, who was a child not long ago?

Other boundaries that are transgressed are moral ones, on faithfulness vs. adultery, but also regarding Simon’s alcoholic tendencies, often leading him to drinking too much. 

In most relationships, there is an imbalance of power: one partner loves more intensely than the other; one takes on the active part while the other remains passive.

With Roger, Paule was the object of his desire, and he decided when and how often they met. Many evenings, she would sit by herself at home, bored and restless, while he is out with his mistresses.

With Simon, the roles are reversed: She is in control and dictates what will happen to their relationship, while he is dependent on her good will.

But is it always positive to be in power, or is there pleasure in being the passive partner, the object to the other’s subject?  

The mise-en-scène is typical Sagan: beautiful men in fast cars who smoke too much, women in cocktail-dresses at the latest restaurants and most stylish bars, often out late at night in the more fashionable parts of Paris.

The debonair lifestyle is matched with emotional despair. 

The story plays out neatly throughout the pages of the book, its ending clear to the reader almost from the start.

The novel doesn’t answer the narrative’s core question on how love interlinks with power. Instead, Sagan leaves it up to the reader to decide which choices can be considered beneficial and which are destructive when it comes to romantic liaisons, sexual desires and power.