First published 2012
Vietnamese refugees build new lives in America while ghosts from their homeland refuse to stay buried. In one story, an elderly man receives visits from Ho Chi Minh's spirit in a New Orleans suburb. A former Vietcong soldier remembers his time in the jungle. An American soldier remains missing in action, his fate intertwined with those he left behind. Butler moves between characters who fled Vietnam and those who fought there, showing how war follows people across oceans and decades. These men and women struggle to reconcile their memories of home with the strange rhythms of American suburbs. Ancient folklore collides with strip malls and convenience stores. The past intrudes on the present through dreams, letters, and unexpected encounters. Each story reveals how displacement shapes identity and how survival demands both remembering and forgetting.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 21st-century, asian-american
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, ghosts, past-intrudes-on-present
Setting: America, New Orleans, Vietnam
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
288 pages · Kindle Edition · Grove Press