Félicité Lavergne leaves her farm in the mountains of central France at the age of fourteen to embark on a tragic, dramatic, and unexpected journey. A farm girl, a maid and then a chambermaid, she moves from the countryside to the city, across France, in the first part of the twentieth century, with both courage and innocence. In each new place, Félicité faces the unknown. She must adapt to a new way of life. She experiences loneliness and seclusion yet dreams of a better life.

Based on written testimonies of seven maids, the documentary draws up an intimate portrait of an “invisible” woman in Europe amid major transformations of the Belle Époque era, while combining archives and evocative scenes. It tells the story of a hard, violent life, with joys achieved through great struggle.

DIARY OF A MAID is a film about the status of women, about social violence, about male and bourgeois domination.