Fire Summer

August 1, 2019
A young Vietnamese native returns to her motherland looking for answers only to find that the past does not yield its secrets easily. In the early 1990s, Maia Trieu, a 23-year-old Vietnamese expat, is on a mission to her native country, seemingly charged by the collective diaspora to do one thing: help the Independent Vietnam Coalition contact her great aunt. The expats believe that Maia's relative, a former military commander, is capable of instigating insurgency in the Central Highlands. While that might be Maia's primary agenda, one she has even received a grant for, she is also in Vietnam to seek answers: What prompted her mother to stay behind in Vietnam while Maia escaped along with her dad? Who is left of her family who might have the answers and the closure she craves? In this haunting if meandering debut, Maia travels the countryside following the trail of breadcrumbs on the way to her mission: " 'Whatever you do, ' the Coalition instructed, 'be at the foot of the Vong Phu Mountain on the first night of the full moon.' " Along the way, Maia attracts a ragtag group of fellow travelers, including an American journalist whose brother served in Vietnam. Lam blends the past with the present, fluidly teasing out strands of narrative, but at times the plot is as hazy as the smoky, incense-filled air in the temples that Maia visits. The meditative novel functions best as travelogue and food diary: "The smell of deep-fried shrimp and mung bean patties from a b�nh cuốn stall filled the air. The vendor in a lilac đồ bộ waved customers to her footstools and knee-high tables as she served plates of steamed rice rolls filled with pork mince and wood ear mushrooms, garnished with blanched bean sprouts, fresh mint leaves, and chili fish sauce." Generous doses of folklore--the tale of H�n Vộng Phu, a wife who turns into stone waiting for her husband's return, is a recurring theme here--and poetry add ballast to an otherwise cloudy narrative. Transportive armchair travel if you're willing to follow along just for the sights.

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September 1, 2019
Thuy Da Lam's debut is set in Vietnam in 1991, where 23-year-old Maia Trieu has journeyed from the United States, purportedly to conduct research and spread the ashes of her father, a former ARVN solider who fought alongside the U.S. against the Communists in the Vietnam War. Maia has secretly agreed to carry a message from the Independent Vietnam Coalition to her great aunt, a former military leader recently released from prison, whom the Coalition hopes can carry on the fight. Upon her arrival, Maia immediately draws the attention of Public Security officials, who intend to track her during her trip, and she agrees to serve as a translator for JP, a charming reporter she meets on the plane. As Maia reconnects with her relatives, she begins to hope that her mother, who allowed herself to be captured 13 years earlier so that Maia and her father could escape Vietnam, might be alive. Thuy Da Lam paints a vibrant portrait of post-war Vietnam, illuminating both the dangers and the great beauty of a country in the process of healing itself.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)