The Sea Wall (UK)

Résumé

A Frenchwoman, Mrs. Dufresne, lives on a seaside concession in colonial Indochina with her two young adult children, Suzanne and Joseph. The family exists by selling the rice which they grow in rice-paddys protected from salt-water flooding by a dam. But one day a typhoon tears their wooden dam to bits. Michel Forestier, sent by the French government authorities to inspect the damage, advises rebuilding in cement. While there, he meets and is immediately attracted to young Suzanne, but Mrs. Dufresne, with no money to buy the cement, has other plans for her daughter. Albert Legros, the son of a rich local businessman, also likes Suzanne, and her scheming mother feels sure that this will induce him to lend them the necessary sum. She is mistaken. All Albert gives Suzanne is a ring which he says is a diamond but, when she tries to sell it, it turns out to be glass. Albert wants more for his money, but Suzanne refuses. It is Michel Forestier she loves. Finally Albert makes what he calls « the only generous gesture of my life » and gives Suzanne the money to rebuild the dam. This gift comes too late for Mrs. Dufresne, who, worn out and despairing, has just died, but her son Joseph will carry on her work, and Suzanne will find happiness with Michel Forestier.