A captivating novel about an immigrant Vietnamese family who settles
in New Orleans and struggles to remain connected to one another as their
lives are inextricably reshaped. This stunning debut is "vast in scale
and ambition, while luscious and inviting ... in its intimacy" (The New
York Times Book Review).
When Huong arrives in New Orleans with her two young sons, she is
jobless, homeless, and worried about her husband, Cong, who remains in
Vietnam. As she and her boys begin to settle in to life in America, she
continues to send letters and tapes back to Cong, hopeful that they will
be reunited and her children will grow up with a father.
But with time, Huong realizes she will never see her husband again.
While she attempts to come to terms with this loss, her sons, Tuan and
Binh, grow up in their absent father's shadow, haunted by a man and a
country trapped in their memories and imaginations. As they push
forward, the three adapt to life in America in different ways: Huong
gets involved with a Vietnamese car salesman who is also new in town;
Tuan tries to connect with his heritage by joining a local Vietnamese
gang; and Binh, now going by Ben, embraces his adopted homeland and his
burgeoning sexuality. Their search for identity--as individuals and as a
family--threatens to tear them apart, until disaster strikes the city
they now call home and they are suddenly forced to find a new way to
come together and honor the ties that bind them.
