This is a second Duras book for me. I don't really appreciate her writing much. This book is one of the India books. I didn't read the first one but Anne-Marie Stretter appears in this book as well as The Ravishing of Lol Stein. There are 3 main characters; Anne-Marie of course, wife of the French Ambassador, the vice-consul of Lahore who is who is odd and doesn't fit in or connect with others, and a mad, beggar woman who was thrown out of her family for being pregnant. It is very hard for me to see how these people connect with each other. The beggar woman, really just a girl is such a sad situation. Thrown out for bringing shame on the family. Surviving but for what does she survive and she is contrasted against Anne-Marie who lives in opulence, decadence, sexual promiscuity and yet is accepted. These women are contrasts. The Vice-Consul is a bit mad too. He shoots off his gun and then is called from his position and is waiting in Calcutta for a new post. No one talks to him. He is pretty much isolated. Apparently he has an attraction to Anne-Marie but she will not be having anything to do with him even though she does invite him to the party. Common themes or elements in Duras writing; dancing, poverty, lying, adultery, madness and desire. The book also looks at colonialism and the colonized, opulence and squalor. ( )