This novel, for which its author, Marguerite Duras, won the Prix Goncourt in 1948, tells of a deeply personal experience the author lived, to the point where it is no longer possible to separate the fictional events from the autobiographical narrative. This happened when her family moved to Indochina during the French occupation of Vietnam. During this difficult period, the novelist presents events that are highly documentary and experimental, while maintaining traditional storytelling. This is the distinctive flavor of all her works, most of which have been adapted into cinematic works to provide an element of suspense and the spirit of new novel writing. Women play the leading role in most of her works, while men are marginal creatures, even though they yearn to assert themselves as heroes or lovers.