Jennifer (JC-S)'s Reviews > Those Opulent Days

‘The four of you. One will die.’

Set in French-colonial Vietnam (then known as Annam) during the 1920s, this murder mystery held my attention from beginning to end. Duy, Phong, Minh and Edmond, sons of wealthy families, have been best friends since childhood. One day they visited a seer, who prophesied:

‘The four of you. One will lose his mind. One will pay. One will agonize. […] One will die.’

Unsettling.

Later, in 1928, responsible for their families’ businesses, the four of them get together in a family mansion for the evening. Only three of them survive.

‘But denial was the sole emotion they all excelled in. Time passed in a silent blur.’

Who killed the fourth, and why? The story unfolds slowly in a world of privileged colonial glamour (for some), drugs and the power of the wealthy. We learn about each of the four young men, their family businesses, their own ambitions as well as the expectations of their parents.

The focus is on the six days leading up to the murder and involves multiple perspectives. The multiple perspectives provide some insight into the gulf between the wealthy and their servants, the racism and (from some) intentional cruelty.

Ms Pham paints an uncomfortable picture of colonial privilege and exploitation. The colonisers are powerful: those colonised are not. Violence, drug and alcohol abuse are all included, and it is clear that the lives of the powerful are important, while the less important are treated as entirely interchangeable and disposable.

For me, while the murder mystery became less important than the setting, I did find the conclusion satisfying. Be warned though, that this is not a novel for the squeamish.

I finished the novel determined to learn more about the history of this period.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith