In the heart of German-occupied Paris lies Chemin de vie, an all-girls asylum with a terrible past. It is the playground of Hector Barousse, a World War I era field medic whose fascination with pain is questionable. His methods of therapy bring the girls to such fear that they see visions of the past, but Camille Sabot isn’t like the rest.

Her visions show an ominous figure linking all the girls together—and Camille will learn that something has brought each of them to Chemin de vie—that the very walls hold secrets, and that each girl is simply a cog in a dark, diabolical machine. . .