This book is so beautifully written, bringing to life the heart breaking history of Vietnam. I loved the use of the traditional proverbs and how they fit into the story. I didn’t know much about the history of Vietnam but this has made me read up on the wars and the great famine.
Highly recommended.

This is one of those books which I really wanted to love, but didn't. A 'sweeping' family saga set against the twentieth century history of Vietnam, I confess I found it superficial and a bit trite. Alternating voices from two women who experience a litany of horrors and trauma but who emerge with hope... it all feels very similar to that genre of historical fiction which tells a whole country's past via the compacted lives of a family of women. The detail is sparse (constant mentions of water spinach and chopsticks isn't enough to convey a culture) and obvious (the Japanese soldier and the father...) and too often this feels like YA due to its naivety: "wars have the power to turn graceful and cultured people into monsters", or "like us... American people... loved their families and they also had to work hard to earn their food". I found the writing workmanlike. So I'd hoped for something more sophisticated and 'literary' but can see this being a popular success.