Set in prewar, French-occupied Indochina (now Vietnam), it charts the clandestine, intense love affair between an adolescent French girl from a financially ruined family and a much older, wealthy Chinese heir.

Pay attention to how the narrator describes the girl’s famous outfit—the silk dress, the gold lamé shoes, and the man's fedora. It is an image of self-invention.

Whispers of Saigon: Exploring the New Audiobook Edition of Marguerite Duras’s ' The Lover '

brings her nuanced voice to Duras’ "hallucinogenic" and "mesmerizing" prose. Listening Length: This concise but powerful production runs for approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes Bonus Content:

The narrator meets her future lover on a ferry crossing the Mekong River. Her appearance—a silk dress, gold lamé shoes, and a man’s fedora—instantly creates a stark contrast between her youthful innocence and the desperate poverty of her family situation.