The Best Vietnamese Literary Fiction & Memoirs Written by Vietnamese Authors

Beautifully written and moving stories I love - WE NEED MORE

I didn’t read much as a child, we didn’t have many books at home, it wasn’t ever something my mother’s family did in Vietnam either. By the time I was born in Vietnam after the war, books were burnt and no one had a right to write or speak their minds. Literature and spoken words were (and still is) controlled by the government. Nowadays, it is so victorious to see bookshops thrive in Vietnam.

Without knowing it, the love of books germinated inside my gut, leading me to study A-Level English Literature. We read classics, Tess Of The D’Urbevilles became a chore and I couldn’t get my head around King Lear nor Hamlet. During art college, I thought reading had to be serious. I read Susan Sontag and books on film editing, art and philosophy. This made me gear towards music and I considered Tom Waits and Jeff Buckley the poets of our time. Aged 20, an epiphany occurred to me on a beach in Italy in the form of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. I fell madly in love with literary fiction and discovered that books could have so much more meaning and I did not have to read scholarly and intellectual writing, that I could enjoy more current works.

I also loved Brick Lane by Monica Ali because the books spoke about the lives of immigrants, something that was far from being represented when I was growing up. I related to the characters and was spellbound by the way I could connect to them even though they were from a different culture.

The first Vietnamese immigrant book I read was Catfish & Mandala by Andrew X Pham, circa 2001, a brilliant travel memoir of the author’s journey, cycling the length of Vietnam upon his return as a “boat person.” I do need to re-read this, I loved this memoir and what is now truly magical is that it has a view of life in Vietnam in the 90s, only 25 years after the war, a completely different place than it is now.

Vietnamese voices have been completely unrepresented and since Catfish & Mandala, only a few books (which became mainstream) are authored by Vietnamese writers have been released to the UK/ world. I’ve read 10 (hope I am not missing one out, let me know if I have), thats about the extent of what has been available.

The Americans have portrayed their side of the Vietnam war only from their perspective and have always depicted the Vietnamese people as the enemy as well as undeserving, yellow, mud and flee ridden human beings in movies and novels.

My heart was especially embraced when I read Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin, a story of three orphaned siblings who fled Vietnam to the UK. Stories like mine or those who have refuged in London have never been told, observed or acknowledged. Although I have some reservations about the book (I need to read it again as I read on audible which isn’t the same), I still really liked it and would highly recommend it.

For a great (post) war book, the high political stances and gruesome details so gripping, you can smell the bloody words, read and scrutinise the acclaimed The Sympathizer by Pulitzer Prize author Viet Thanh Nguyen. It is a must read. The book adaptation is now a series on Sky Atlantic. I find the book heartbreaking but equally heavy duty stuff. This is a 3 dimensional Vietnamese view which makes this book of great historical importance.

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s memoir, A Man Of Two Faces is unlike any literary books I have read. It is written in the second person with words, lines and paragraphs poetically laid out like children’s books. I am not sure if it is because I understand Vietnamese words, meaning and sentiments in its language that this book moves me like I felt his mother, my own. Their story told in the manner of you and I, is spoken with such intimacy that I cried for the nature of the Vietnamese way of loving.

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s collection of short stories The Refugees is incredible. I particularly thought the first one about the wet ghost is brilliant, those who died at sea during the exodus, remain drenched. Like all of his books, they are must reads not just for the Vietnamese stories but for the high level of writing.

I saw Viet Thanh Nguyen speak at Daunts, in Marylebone last year. I heard his voice break when he talked about his mother and I weeped so much during it. I got all my books signed by the author. Fan girl!

The Vietnamese have a strong belief in the afterlife and therefore live among ghosts, Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith is a creepy and highly enjoyable read if it doesn’t scare the goosebumps off you. I had to read it with TV audio in the background. Immersed in modern Sai Gon and beyond, the author brings all the senses to you. I loved a lot of this book but equally disliked parts. Either way, it is an incredible insight into the supernatural beliefs of Vietnamese culture.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong had me at the title. The writing among the pages is beautiful, I recommend this special novel first for its language. Ocean Vuong is a poet and uses his poetic techniques to create an exceptional literary masterpiece. He writes powerful intimate letters to his mother at the centre of a coming of age, immigrant story. He finds new ways of describing his mother through letters to her, as a woman who can not speak English, plucked into a new life in such an arresting, poetic and philosophical way. I can not wait for his next book out this year.

Ru by Kim Thuy is a masterpiece. I met her years ago at her book launch in London. There is a Canadian film adaptation which I have yet to see. A story about refugees from Sai Gon to Quebec.

My most favourite books are from Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of The Mountain Sings & Dust Child. I read her books very quickly because they didn’t allow me to stop. It is hard to believe that her bestseller, The Mountain Sings is her first book in the English language and she could not get a literary agent and could not get published for years until Viet Thanh Nguyen introduced her to his one. The books covers a history over three generations so deep and tragic. This is the story of my mother, my grandmother and all those who suffered through so much conflict in Vietnam told with page turning heart strings.

Dust Child comes to present day Vietnam with several perspectives of lives in a post war story that is impossible to put down. She is an astonishing story teller and tells us of lives we would rarely hear about. If you’d have to pick one out of all these books, start with The Mountain Sings.

I am most looking forward to Summer Rolls, by Tuyen Do (out 24th April). This book is by a British Vietnamese author. An immigrant story of a mother and daughter (whose a photographer) in East London. It kind of rings a bell. This is an adaption of Tuyen Do’s play which was on in theatres in London (I missed it).

I can not wait, I have never met the author before but I hope you would like to pre-order here like I did- as ever it is really important to pre-order and support up and coming authors. Publishers base their marketing plans over pre-orders. If the author doesn’t get many pre-orders, the publisher will put resources elsewhere, no matter how good the book is. (This happened to me).

I am invited to this book launch and it is one I am most excited about.

Vietnamese writers need to be published and their stories need to be heard.

---

SOME NEWS

I am writing a book too and I am looking for a literary agent. Please send someone my way, I am eagerly awaiting to meet them along the path.

I am still cooking with my mum, supper clubs and cooking class dates are below. Be part of the story. Please book in, this makes (me and) my mum happy and keeps her young and cooking keeps her healthy and active.

Supper Club Dates

29 March

5, 11, 12, 19, 26 April

10, 17, 24, 31 May

7, 21, 28 June

5, 12, 19, 26 July

Vietnamese Cooking Class Dates

6th `April

11th May

1st June

6th July

Thank you for reading. Please share and ask your friends to subscribe to my newsletter if you think they would like it. Thank you x