Making a whore

The novel follows the life of Huyén, a young woman born into upper-class, whose innocent interest in her mother's pregnancy is kept at arm's length: 'you'll find out when you get married', so they say. Lacking sexual education from her family, Huyén turns to her peers for answers, opening up a world of childish whispers about physical pleasure. As polite society demands Huyén to remain virtuous, she enters into adulthood with both the will to know and the will to suppress a young woman's burning physical desires. The torments of her sexual frustration spiral Huyén into a life of debauchery, one she might not ever want to turn back from.