Beyond the Blue

March 28, 2005
The Vietnam War shatters the lives of two families thousands of miles apart in this uneven novel by Gould (Garden of Dreams
). In 1975, 10-year-old American Gen experiences terrible heartache when her mother, who has gone to Vietnam to adopt a young boy, is killed in a war-related plane crash. Meanwhile, in Vietnam seven-year-old Lan witnesses her nation's bloody civil war splitting her own family right down the middle, resulting in displacement and destitution. Gould nimbly follows the two characters to adulthood, when Lan's intense poverty forces her to make the difficult choice to give two of her children up for adoption, and the infertile Gen comes to Vietnam with her husband, Jeff, to adopt them. The pacing begins to drag halfway through, as Gen and Jeff experience innumerable delays and complications with the Vietnamese government. Despite the slow momentum, many readers will appreciate this emotionally satisfying story of hope, adoption and new beginnings.

April 1, 2005
In 1975, nine-year-old Genevieve's mother is killed in a plane crash en route from Saigon, where she had adopted a baby boy. Meanwhile, a seven-year-old Vietnamese girl named Lan witnesses the fall of her homeland to the Viet Cong and her brother's betrayal of his family. Deeply affected by the war and its aftermath, both girls grow up to be strong women, but each still must make peace with her past. Unable to bear children, Genevieve sets out to fulfill her mother's passion for Vietnam by adopting a child from that country, while Lan tries to give her children a better life than she had. Each woman's journey will take her to places of emotional and spiritual healing. This mesmerizing story will appeal to anyone who lived through the Vietnam War era. A writer and editor, Gould ("Garden of " "Dreams") lives in Portland, OR.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2005
Genevieve's most harrowing memory is of 1975, when her mother died in the attempt to get an adopted Amerasian son out of a Vietnam on the brink of civil war. Meanwhile, young Lan grows up in crushing poverty in Vietnam. She's so poor, in fact, that, in the 1980s, she's forced to give up her children. Enter the adult, infertile Genevieve, still dealing with her childhood losses. While the story sounds sentimental, it's grounded in the reality of both countries, and Gould spends a lot of time on the nightmarish complexities of adopting a child from Vietnam. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)