mandy reviewed Dust Child by Que Mai Phan Nguyen
None
4 stars
This book has left my mind racing and thoughts in disarray, but I'll try to give a coherent spoiler-free review
Dust Child is the story of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Told from various viewpoints and timelines, it tells three stories: 1) of sisters Trang and Quỳnh who leave their rural village for the bright lights of Sài Gòn in the hopes of making money to pay off their parents' debts; 2) of orphan Phong who is a the child of a Vietnamese mother and a Black American soldier; and 3) of American veteran Dan and his wife Linda who go on holiday to Vietnam but land up trying to track down Dan's child.
Author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai does a great job of transporting the reader to the chaos and trauma of Vietnam during the war and the aftermath today. She highlights the vulnerability and desperation of extreme poverty, …
This book has left my mind racing and thoughts in disarray, but I'll try to give a coherent spoiler-free review
Dust Child is the story of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Told from various viewpoints and timelines, it tells three stories: 1) of sisters Trang and Quỳnh who leave their rural village for the bright lights of Sài Gòn in the hopes of making money to pay off their parents' debts; 2) of orphan Phong who is a the child of a Vietnamese mother and a Black American soldier; and 3) of American veteran Dan and his wife Linda who go on holiday to Vietnam but land up trying to track down Dan's child.
Author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai does a great job of transporting the reader to the chaos and trauma of Vietnam during the war and the aftermath today. She highlights the vulnerability and desperation of extreme poverty, of the impact on life's choices and the lengths people will go to in order to survive.
She also demonstrates how many grifters prey on those who are desperate and how difficult it is to escape the clutches of poverty for that reason.
There is also the power of culture, propaganda, customs, prejudices and norms that serve to cause fear in society and can limit people's life choices. I thought this was very well done.
I differ from many other reviewers in that I thought there were strong characters and significant character development in the novel. Phong and Quỳnh especially went on journeys that altered them to their core. (Dan remained annoying but I appreciate his attempt at redemption).
I deducted a star because I felt the info-dumping was quite intense at times (but I'm ultimately thankful for the knowledge obtained). I also feel that the author has clear political views that she didn't shy away from in the novel. I hope that she can learn to show rather than tell in future works.