I loved this book! Once again Nguyen Phan Que Mai has knocked it out of the park. I was totally immersed in the lives and worlds of these characters and didn't want their stories to end. I found all of the central characters sympathetic and easy to connect with, and the weaving together of their stories and the different time-frames in the novel was done so skilfully that I stayed 'in' the story the entire time. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

This week, I finished Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and let’s just say I AM ABSOLUTELY HEART BROKEN and filled with hope for a better world all at the same time.

Through the interwoven stories of two Vietnamese girls, an Amerasian man and an American GI, Dust Child presents the complex decisions made during the Việt Nam War and how in the following decades the characters return to their secrets and unanswered questions to search deep within themselves for peace, healing and love.

Written as a result of in-depth research during her PhD on real life events such as the Amerasian Homecoming Act and the sex industry that was created in Việt Nam as a result of the 2.7 million American soldiers in the country during the war, Dust Child empowers the voices of marginalised groups to tell an incredibly important, poetic and touching story.

In 1969, Trang and Quỳnh, two sisters and famers, make their way to the big city, Sài Gòn, to become bar girls so that they can pay off their parents debts. Going against everything they know about traditional values of womanhood, they drink and flirt with American GIs in return for money. As times go on, Trang shocks herself by falling in love with Dan, an American helicopter pilot, who has a fiancé back home.

Decades after the end of the war, we learn about Phong, an Amerasian man, who has been treated as outcast of society for his entire life due being an abandoned child of an American soldier and Vietnamese woman. Parallel to this, Dan returns to Việt Nam with his wife in an attempt to heal from his PTSD and secretly search for Trang, who he had abandoned after learning she was pregnant with his child.

Dust child caught me off guard with its ability to make me feel compassion for all the character - as in all honesty I hated Dan at first and he gave me white saviour vibes, and ok maybe still haven’t forgiven him for leaving Trang… but it really gave me hope that there is chance for peace and reconciliation after war.

Thank you to Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai for shining a light into the dark corners of an untold history, whilst also giving the world a wake up call on how we should treat others with compassion and strive for peace and forgiveness. <3

And thanks to Net Galley and One World Publications, who sent me an online ARC of this book <3

What an amazing depiction of the effects of war and its repercussions on the human soul. I knew relatively little about the Vietnam war, and certainly never knew or thought about the consequences for mixed race offspring as a result of relationships between the American GIs and Vietnamese locals during this time. The title refers to the name given to these progeny. The attitude towards these children in Vietnam, and particularly those with mixed African American parentage is horrifying. With no hope of a successful future in Vietnam these children have also virtually been abandoned by American authorities who had made it increasingly difficult for these children to emigrate to the USA. What I found most impressive was that the author made me understand the viewpoint of every major character in the plot , their reasons for what they did and how they felt. It really made me think whether I would have done anything different in their situation. The depiction of how war, fear and desperation can change a person’s personality and morals was totally convincing. This is clearly a topic very close to the author’s heart and her passion for its accurate portrayal was clear. Her research and execution of this difficult subject is admirable and faultless. This book has had a huge impact on me and I have thought of little else since I finished reading it several days ago - very rarely does a book have that effect on me. That is surely recommendation enough in itself. I am very grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC.

Sent from my iPad

Poetic, wistful read that took me to a place I knew nothing about, 60s Vietnam, and in loved the amazing characters I met along the way.
An author I will look out for in the future too!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of the book.

*4.5 stars*

Something not often spoken about in regard to the Vietnam war, is the discrimination faced by Amerasians born from wartime unions between American men and Vietnamese women. Dust Child rectifies that.

Our story begins with Phong, who’s mother leaves him outside an orphanage where he is taken in by a nun who smothers him with love and care, but she’s the only one that does, because Phong will discover that his dark skin and black curly hair mark him out as the child of a black American soldier and a Vietnamese mother - and he’s treated like dirt by everyone else that he meets.

In 1969 we meet sisters Trang and Quỳnh, who are working on their parents farm, but are distressed at their parents level of debt, some of it due to medical bills, so they decide to travel to Sài Gòn and take jobs as ‘bar girls’ drinking with American GI’s, something which often led to more sexually explicit acts, and in turn more pay. However, for Trang, (now known as Kim) a GI called Dan becomes much more than a client and they fall head over heels in love.

In the present, Dan and his wife Linda are about to embark on a journey to Vietnam, where Linda hopes that Dan will be able to put some of his ghosts to rest, and hopefully cure the horrific nightmares that he still suffers from to this day. Problem is, Linda doesn’t know what’s really on Dan’s mind, because when he left Vietnam he left behind one very pregnant Kim, and it’s his hope that he can find her and their child, and make good what he should have done all those years ago.

Beautifully written with terrific characters and a strong sense of place, DUST CHILD evoked many emotions, shedding a light on a consequence of war that is sadly often overlooked. Very highly recommended.

A heartbreakingly beautiful novel. I loved the journey that Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai took me on with this story. As a big fan of multi-generation stories told from multiple POVs, this historical fiction was right up my street. It also taught me so much about the Viet Nam war and the lived experiences of those living in Viet Nam during and after the war. So many stories are those of Americans and American soldiers in mainstream media so this was a refreshing, albeit devastating, experience.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters focusing on the two sisters - Trang and Quyn. I could see where there stories were likely to go but it didn’t make it any easier to walk that path alongside them. I found Dan and Linda difficult characters and struggled to read their chapters at times. They both annoyed me and I found it difficult to reconcile Dan in the later years with the Dan from the earlier years.

The plot of this book is well constructed and the weaving of the stories together cleverly done. The characters have depth (although Linda not so much…) and the writing made this an easy read despite the some of the deeply troubling subject matters.

Overall, a truly enjoyable read.

A really readable and interesting book set in a country and part of history that I shamefully knew very little about. The Vietnamese women have little choice in their lives and the American soldiers are happy to exploit this but there is real depth to the characters and shades of being that make this stand out as one to remember.

This novel tells the story of 3 people affected by the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Trang is a woman who leaves her rural village with her sister to travel to Saigon to work as a "tea girl" servicing American soldiers. Dan is an American soldier who has a relationship with Trang and leaves her pregnant when he returns to America. Phong is a "dust child", the derogatory term for a child born of a Vietnamese woman and American man, in his case, a black man. Phong is left at an orphanage by his mother and struggles to deal with prejudice and to have questions about his background answered. Dan travels back to Vietnam with his wife to try to deal with his PTSD and deal with the secrets he has been hiding. In addition to being a great story populated with sympathetic and deftly drawn characters, this was a beautifully-written and emotionally-resonant novel.

Very good. I liked this book. Well written with beautiful prose. I liked that there were so many POV's, the

Recommend to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction!

A stunning multi-generational story about the Vietnam war, the people who survived it and the repercussions still felt today. The story predominantly goes from past to present with Dan, a U.S. soldier and his affair with Kim, a Vietnamese sex worker. During their affair, Kim falls pregnant in 1969 and announces this to Dan, who abandons her and goes back to the US. Fast forward to 2016 where him and his wife Linda return to Vietnam and Dan begins his secret search for Kim and their child. During this journey, we also learn about Phong, a mixed race Amerasian who grew up in an orphanage and continues to look for his birth parents in a bid to start a better life in America. I loved how much I learnt by reading this book and definitely recommend it to others.

After reading The Mountains Sing, I knew I had to get my hands on an early copy of Dust Child!
It did not disappoint, I adored this book. The writing is beautiful, powerful and full of so much emotion! I loved the multiple POV's, the way the story intertwined was very clever and worked so well. I found the book educational too and learnt about Vietnam and the meaning behind Dust Child.

Recommend to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction!

I enjoyed this Vietnam war novel it is the story of ordinary people living through the Vietnam war rather than the war seen from the point of view of those fighting .In telling the story in this way we see a different view of life at that time and are given a glimpse of the stoic way that the young women get on with life both in spite of and because of the war .In trying to better themselves the sisters find themselves acting as prostitutes or hostesses in a bar frequented by American soldiers .Relationships develop and we learn of the children they have and the difficulties these half Vietnamese people have in life
I thought the character development Im the story was very strong as was the sense of place .I was quickly engrossed in the novel and wanted to know what happened to all the characters
The plight of parents separated from their children and of ex combatants coming to terms with their roles in wartime was well covered
I loved the ending which I hadn’t predicted
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk 6th April 2023 by Oneworld Publications .This review is published in Goodreads ,NetGalley Uk and on my blog bionic Sarah’s Books

What a lovely book. The story is set in the Vietnam war and is about the outcome of children conceived by American GIs and Vietnamese women. Unfortunately these children do not fit into Vietnamese life and are called “dust children” which is a derogatory term. The book centres around the aftermath of the war and one person, Phong, to know the history of his birth and whether his father knew that his Vietnamese girlfriend, Trang, was pregnant when he left Vietnam. Phong is half Vietnamese and half black. Phong’s life has been difficult being brought up by a single mother and he decides he needs to know his background. At the same time an American Veteran goes to Vietnam with a mission to try and seek out these “dust children” and reunite them, if possible, with their American families. Not an easy task by any means. The story becomes a mix of happy and sad. Dan met Trang and they lived together and were very happy until Dan’s mood caused problems. PTSD is now the name of what he was suffering. Dan went back to the States knowing Trang was pregnant but could not deal with this due to his mental state. Forty years later he returns to Vietnam with his wife to try and lay to rest his PTSD. His wife did not know about his history with Trang and the story evolves around him finding Phong and how their lives will entwine. Will Phong go back to the States, will he remain in Vietnam. The book is written very sympathetically and I really enjoyed the characters and how people can forgive the past and help future generations of their past. A extremely thoughtful book

I wanted to like this more than I did. It had the bones of a good story but I found the writing a bit jarring. Some bits dragged and other parts were too quick where I felt it would have been more interesting to have more detail.

I really enjoyed this book. I learnt so much about the Vietnam war itself as well as the plight of the ‘Amerasians’ I thought it was well written however I felt the coincidence of Phong meeting his mother as a result of Dan looking for Kim was a bit jarring.

This is such a beautifully written and heartbreaking read. It is such a poignant and powerful novel that I don't think anything I say about this book will do it justice, it is honestly breathtaking. 5 stars isn't enough