Le raja

More about the book

In 1906, as the raja of Bali succumbs to the Dutch invasion and takes his own life along with his court, a young officer, Martial Vandewelle, saves one of the raja's favorites, whom he loves. He names the child she bears after himself. Fast forward to 1995, in a psychiatric hospital in Île-de-France, an elderly man, forcibly interned, cries out in rebellion, claiming to be the heir of a distant royal lineage. Only a young psychiatrist is willing to listen to his story, which soon leads them both on a quest for a hidden treasure.