AN INTIMATE, STIRRING PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY AT WAR AND A FAMILY'S BATTLE TO SURVIVE
Set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War, The Mountains Sing is the enveloping, multi-generational tale of the Trần family, perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi'sHomegoing.
Hà Nội, 1972. Hương and her grandmother, Trần Diệu Lan, cling to one another in their improvised shelter as American bombs fall around them. Her father and mother have already left to fight in a war that is tearing not just her country but her family apart. For Trần Diệu Lan, forced to flee the family farm with her six children decades earlier as the Communist government rose to power in the North, this experience is horribly familiar. Seen through the eyes of these two unforgettable women, The Mountains Sing captures their defiance and determination, hope and unexpected joy.
Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn's richly lyrical debut weaves between the lives of grandmother and granddaughter to paint a unique picture of the country's turbulent twentieth-century history. This is the story of a people pushed to breaking point, and a family who refuse to give in.
My Thoughts:
The Mountains Sing is told from the perspective of a Vietnamese family and we hear from Trần Diệu Lan the grandmother and Hương her grand daughter. Told across a dual timeline this eloquent and powerful story tells of conflict and the way that this can affect families for generations.
This book served to allow me to learn a lot more about the history of Vietnam and it is always been a place that I have wanted to visit. I found the research and experience contained here to be real and it filled me with a great sense of sadness at times but also happiness for the wonderful way that the characters had been written.
There is the brutality of war and communism contained and the effects this had on Vietnam and its people, this is also set against hope, recovery, forgiveness and the endurance of the people. I am not sure that I have read any fiction set in Vietnam before but this is a period of events and history that is important to learn.
The author writes with great depth and description and the story flowed beautifully. I found this a fascinating read that was educational and memorable. Whilst sometimes describing bad things, the writing remained truly wonderful.
I really enjoyed it and I think it is a book and a story that will remain with me for some time to come.
About the Author:
BORN IN VIETNAM in 1973, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai grew up in the aftermath of the war and witnessed its devastation on her country. She worked as a street seller and rice farmer before winning a scholarship to attend university in Australia. She is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction published in Vietnamese, and her writing has been translated and published in more than 10 countries, most recently in Norton’s Inheriting the War anthology. Her work has received the Hanoi Writers Association 'Poetry of the Year' Award (2010). She lives with her family in Jakarta.
You can find the author on Twitter: @nguyen_p_quemai
Please do also have a look at the other stops on the blog tour.
Huge thanks for the blog tour support Leah xx
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