The Lover is a book I have been hearing about and eyeing for years , Now that I finally have a chance to read it ( the big plus point of this list is that I am able to read books that I have been putting off for a long time.) I can see why this novella is so revered.
It is a semi autobiographical story about a teenage girl from a poor background, who falls in love with an older and rich man. This creates a lot of tension from both sides of the family and eventually the romance is called off by the lover’s father.
Really, though The Lover is not as straightforward as I tell it. The book is not written in chronological order. The reader gets bits and pieces of the author’s past plus the background is Vietnam during the French rule so politics slyly makes its way into the novel.
Although not an easy read there is a certain deranged beauty in the book and if it wasn’t for the so so translation I would have probably liked it more.
The Bobsphere 