From 1945 to 1954, thousands of French soldiers were sent to Indochina to maintain the French colonial presence and to fight against Communism. One of them is an officer: Régis Delore. His regiment is based in Hué. Like many others, he has an Indochinese mistress. Her name is Thi Vien. He really does love her. But not enough to sacrifice his family – a wife and children living in France. The lovers have a daughter. Camille. Delore will never legally acknowledge her as his child. Nevertheless, he will watch over her until his death, unseen, wounded by his own choice of duty over love. Sent to boarding school in France, separated from her mother but financially supported by her father, Camille will finally began a quest to find that man – the father about whom she knows nothing, not even his name – years after her exile. An officer at the Army archives in the Château de Vincennes will assist her in her search. He will act as her guide, and help her to resolve the mystery of her childhood and part of her adult life.

Françoise Cloarec transports readers to French Indochina, where military men and local women sometimes fell passionately in love. As an adult living in France, Camille – the fruit of one of those relationships – will begin a desperate search for her mysterious father’s identity.