For fans of Duras's enduring bestseller The Lover, an evocative and
intimate exploration of the drama and power of adolescence, in a
remarkable blend of fiction and memoir
Far more daring and truthful than any of her other novels, The North
China Lover is a fascinating retelling of the dramatic experiences of
Duras's adolescence that shaped her most famous work. Initially
conceived as notes toward a screenplay for The Lover, this later
novel, written toward the end of her life, emphasizes the tougher
aspects of her youth in Indochina and possesses the intimate feel of a
documentary.
Both shocking and enthralling, the story Duras tells is so powerfully
imagined (or remembered) that it . . . lingers like a strong perfume
(Publishers Weekly). Hailed by the French critics as a return to the
Duras of the great books and the great days, it is a mature and complex
rendering of a formative period in the author's life.