Mr. McCane
This is my second read by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. I absolutely loved The Mountains Sing and had heard this one was even better, so I dove right in without even reading the synopsis.
During the Vietnam War, many American soldiers slept with Vietnamese women and then left, often leaving them pregnant. The mixed-race children who were left behind were called Amerasians. These children faced discrimination, teasing, and horrible insults because many Vietnamese people still hated Americans. One of the names they were called was “Dust Children.”
Many of these children spent their entire lives trying to locate their fathers. And on rare occasions, there were American soldiers trying to locate the children they had abandoned.
Dust Child takes place between 1969 and 2016 and follows three interconnected POVs.
First, we meet Phong, a half-Black, half-Vietnamese man who is desperately searching for his Black American father who resides in the United States.
Next, we follow 18-year-old Trang (Kim) and her 17-year-old sister, Quynh. The two sisters are trying to earn money for their parents by working as “bar girls,” which, of course, involves prostituting themselves to American soldiers.
Finally, we follow Dan, a white American soldier who returns to Vietnam in 2016 searching for the child he abandoned during the war.
I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t expecting any Black American representation, and then suddenly, boom, we’re in here too. This author is an incredible writer. I immersive read this book, and I highly recommend experiencing it the same way. It was deeply thought-provoking for me and an easy five stars.
This is my second read by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. I absolutely loved The Mountains Sing and had heard this one was even better, so I dove right in without even reading the synopsis.
During the Vietnam War, many American soldiers slept with Vietnamese women and then left, often leaving them pregnant. The mixed-race children who were left behind were called Amerasians. These children faced discrimination, teasing, and horrible insults because many Vietnamese people still hated Americans. One of the names they were called was “Dust Children.”
Many of these children spent their entire lives trying to locate their fathers. And on rare occasions, there were American soldiers trying to locate the children they had abandoned.
Dust Child takes place between 1969 and 2016 and follows three interconnected POVs.
First, we meet Phong, a half-Black, half-Vietnamese man who is desperately searching for his Black American father who resides in the United States.
Next, we follow 18-year-old Trang (Kim) and her 17-year-old sister, Quynh. The two sisters are trying to earn money for their parents by working as “bar girls,” which, of course, involves prostituting themselves to American soldiers.
Finally, we follow Dan, a white American soldier who returns to Vietnam in 2016 searching for the child he abandoned during the war.
I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t expecting any Black American representation, and then suddenly, boom, we’re in here too. This author is an incredible writer. I immersive read this book, and I highly recommend experiencing it the same way. It was deeply thought-provoking for me and an easy five stars.