Laurence Bertilleux, born in 1925, is a woman ahead of her time: she studied psychology, is an unmarried virgin at 28, and in an attempt to escape an inevitable fate as a housewife enrolls in the army and leaves for Vietnam, at the height of the Indochina war.

In the army she works the mess-hall and the traveling cinema, and befriends Colette, a nurse, with whom she goes dancing at night. She loves this new country as if it were her own. One day, a Vietnamese helper, fascinated by her generous assets, tries to rape her. He is sentenced to death.

Back in France, years pass, and she gets married, becomes a mother, a widow, then an old lady. Indochina—for which she has spared barely a thought since her return—reappears to her on the occasion of the burial of Colonel Pham, whom she knew while in Vietnam. Only after letting her memories speak does she let herself die.

In this gripping novel, Pascale Roze draws the portrait of a courageous woman in the vein of Marguerite Duras’ novels, who leads an adventurous life in support of a humanitarian cause, fighting against colonialism and racial prejudices. L’Eau rouge is also a beautiful contemplation on time passing, the duty of memory, and the imperious necessity of staying loyal to one’s ideals.