
Those Opulent Days
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
By:
-
Jacquie Pham
About this listen
Jacquie Pham’s transportive debut, Those Opulent Days, delivers a classic historical murder mystery centered around the glamor, violence, wealth, and opium of 1920’s French-colonial Vietnam that meshes the structural brilliance of Lucy Foley’s The Guest List with the historical vitality of Vanessa Chan’s The Storm We Made, and the upstairs-downstairs drama of Downton Abbey.
One will lose his mind. One will pay. One will agonize. And one will die.
Duy, Phong, Minh, and Edmond have been best friends since childhood. Now, as young men running their families’ formidable businesses, they make up Saigon’s most powerful group of friends in 1928 Vietnam’s elite society.
Until one of them is murdered.
In a lavish mansion on a hill in Dalat, all four men have gathered for an evening of indulgence, but one of them won’t survive the night. Toggling between this fatal night and the six days leading up to it, told from the perspectives of the four men, their mothers, their servants, and their lovers, an intricate web of terror, loyalty, and well-kept secrets begins to unravel.
As the story creeps closer to the murder, and as each character becomes a suspect, the true villain begins to emerge: colonialism, the French occupation of Vietnam, and the massive economic differences that catapult the wealthy into the stratosphere while the poor starve on the streets.
Those Opulent Days is at once both a historical novel of vivid intensity and a classically structured, pitch-perfect murder mystery featuring a robust cast of characters you won’t soon forget.
©2024 Jacquie Pham (P)2024 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Gabriel's Moon
- A Novel
- By: William Boyd
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a fire that took his mother’s life. Every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes of Europe in the grip of the Cold War. When he is offered the chance to interview Patrice Lumumba, newly elected president of the People’s Republic of the Congo, he finds himself drawn into a web of duplicities and betrayals.
-
-
One of the best Boyd storylines, but...
- By WKB on 12-19-24
By: William Boyd
-
The Collaborators
- By: Michael Idov
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crisscrossing the globe on the way to this shocking revelation are disaffected millennial CIA officer Ari Falk, thrown into a moral and professional crisis by the death of his best asset, and brash, troubled LA heiress Maya Chou, spiraling after the disappearance of her Russian American billionaire father. The duo’s adventures take us to both classic and surprising locales—from Berlin and Tangier to Latvia, Belarus, and an abandoned technopark outside Moscow.
-
-
It was nice to find a good one !
- By Rob Taylor on 02-22-25
By: Michael Idov
-
The Storm We Made
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Chan
- Narrated by: Samantha Tan
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.
-
-
Confusing
- By Brev on 04-25-24
By: Vanessa Chan
-
The Rose Arbor
- A Novel
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: Her best friend Marisa is a police officer who is assigned to the case. Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.
-
-
Skip it.
- By 4Boxers!!!! on 12-14-24
By: Rhys Bowen
-
The Wildes
- A Novel in Five Acts
- By: Louis Bayard
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers, Damian Lynch, P.J. Ochlan, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named Lord Alfred Douglas, Constance gradually—and then all at once—comes to see that her husband's heart is elsewhere.
-
-
Lost in the beautiful writing
- By Sharon Love on 01-22-25
By: Louis Bayard
-
An Honest Man
- A Novel
- By: Michael Koryta
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After discovering seven men murdered aboard their yacht–including two Senate rivals–Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous on Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret. Elsewhere on the island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from his alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not alone. A mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a promise: “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”
-
-
Electrifying and entertaining
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 07-26-23
By: Michael Koryta
-
Gabriel's Moon
- A Novel
- By: William Boyd
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a fire that took his mother’s life. Every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes of Europe in the grip of the Cold War. When he is offered the chance to interview Patrice Lumumba, newly elected president of the People’s Republic of the Congo, he finds himself drawn into a web of duplicities and betrayals.
-
-
One of the best Boyd storylines, but...
- By WKB on 12-19-24
By: William Boyd
-
The Collaborators
- By: Michael Idov
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crisscrossing the globe on the way to this shocking revelation are disaffected millennial CIA officer Ari Falk, thrown into a moral and professional crisis by the death of his best asset, and brash, troubled LA heiress Maya Chou, spiraling after the disappearance of her Russian American billionaire father. The duo’s adventures take us to both classic and surprising locales—from Berlin and Tangier to Latvia, Belarus, and an abandoned technopark outside Moscow.
-
-
It was nice to find a good one !
- By Rob Taylor on 02-22-25
By: Michael Idov
-
The Storm We Made
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Chan
- Narrated by: Samantha Tan
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.
-
-
Confusing
- By Brev on 04-25-24
By: Vanessa Chan
-
The Rose Arbor
- A Novel
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: Her best friend Marisa is a police officer who is assigned to the case. Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.
-
-
Skip it.
- By 4Boxers!!!! on 12-14-24
By: Rhys Bowen
-
The Wildes
- A Novel in Five Acts
- By: Louis Bayard
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers, Damian Lynch, P.J. Ochlan, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named Lord Alfred Douglas, Constance gradually—and then all at once—comes to see that her husband's heart is elsewhere.
-
-
Lost in the beautiful writing
- By Sharon Love on 01-22-25
By: Louis Bayard
-
An Honest Man
- A Novel
- By: Michael Koryta
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After discovering seven men murdered aboard their yacht–including two Senate rivals–Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous on Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret. Elsewhere on the island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from his alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not alone. A mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a promise: “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”
-
-
Electrifying and entertaining
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 07-26-23
By: Michael Koryta
The central characters are complex but largely unlikable, their actions and motivations shaped by privilege and power. Although this choice may be intentional—reflecting the moral ambiguities and tensions of colonial society—the unrelenting negativity of their arcs made it difficult for me to connect or invest emotionally in their journeys. I found myself hoping for moments of redemption or transformation, but the narrative’s persistent bleakness ultimately tested my patience.
Readers who appreciate novels that explore the darker facets of human nature and society may find value in the author’s uncompromising approach. However, those seeking more hopeful or redemptive character arcs might struggle with the relentless tone. Ultimately, while the novel offers a vivid portrait of a turbulent era, its emotional distance and focus on flawed protagonists made it a challenging read for me
Couldn't connect with Those Opulent Days
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.