Plot summary

1964. René Gallimard is a mid-level bureaucrat working in the French Embassy in Beijing. Being a stickler for doing things by the books, at least as it comes to his own responsibilities, places him at odds with some of his colleagues, but leads to him being promoted to Vice-Consul, especially important during this uncertain geopolitical time with the French having lost the war in Indochina and another war possibly breaking out in Vietnam. Prior to his promotion, he, already married, begins an illicit affair with Song Liling, a starring member of the Beijing Opera. In their relationship, René gets caught up in the western male/demure East Asian female ideal as depicted in "Madama Butterfly", the death scene aria which she sang in the first performance of hers he attended. Aspects of their relationship will ultimately lead to his downfall, those aspects which he either does not initially see or refuses to see in only wanting to see that ideal he has in his mind.—Huggo