Book is in French In the mid-1930s, in the working-class district of Maisonneuve, poverty reigned, unemployment was the daily bread of the poor. Théodore Sansoucy's large family huddles in accommodation above his grocery store and butcher's shop with his wife Emilienne's sisters, all three of whom have recently moved into their home. Irène, the eldest of the Sansoucy children, is the wise old maid of the household. She tries to calm everyone down when situations get heated, which happens often since business and family rarely go well together. Strong-headed Léandre works in the store, and tension rises between him and his father. Marcel, an untalented student, delivers the orders and plays the role of painkiller for the trader who sometimes appears more boss than father. The intellectual Edouard, for his part, dreams of marrying the daughter of the notary Crochetière, with whom he apprentices as a clerk. He has no interest in his family and even less in the grocery store. Simone, the "little pearl" of the clan, in love with an Irishman to the great displeasure of her father, as well as the inscrutable Placide, a member of the congregation of Sainte-Croix who aspires to follow in the footsteps of Brother André, complete the portrait of this family devoting its energies to satisfying customers in these difficult times. Neighborhood life comes alive around the small grocery store. Behind the counter, Sansoucy receives secrets, the ladies coming to spread the sometimes funny gossip of the neighborhood. However, the comments are much less funny to hear when they concern his family life. Especially if it concerns the escapades of his children...