Poignant and thoughtful, if not exactly riveting.
In Lu’s novel, a Buddhist monk flees Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the 1970s and reappears in California decades later.
The story opens with the depiction of a gruesome death: Wu Huaiyu, a young Khmer Rouge officer, lies on the plaza of a small temple, his face flattened by the large fallen Buddha statue that he had been attempting to destroy. Watching the scene in horror are Tutu, a teenage girl who had recently become engaged to Wu Huaiyu, and Wu Lou, the temple’s last remaining monk. As a young boy, Wu Lou was rescued from a pond by an aging monk who saw potential in the lad and adopted him. One day, Wu Lou and his Master spotted a starving, orphaned child, Tutu, and took her under their protection. Tutu and Wu Lou were then raised as brother and sister, developing a deep bond. Now Tutu tells her brother that he must run and find his way to America to escape being killed by the military, promising, “I’ll find a way to go to the United States to find you.” The story jumps forward 50 years, to Los Angeles, where readers meet the novel’s narrator, Terry. He and his wife are immigrants from China, living in a house they bought through a Cambodian realtor—Tutu. Also living in Los Angeles, unbeknownst to Tutu, is Wu Lou. Lu’s narrative is more focused on the effect of Wu Lou’s life upon others (especially Tutu and Terry) than on his own experiences before reaching California (readers learn only about his time in Cambodia and his dedication to achieving a pure life). In easy-flowing, conversational prose, weaving a narrative that shifts back and forth in time, Lu intertwines the tales of Tutu and Terry with Terry’s musings on Buddhist philosophy and mysticism, including the belief in reincarnation. The novel also delves into the disturbing East Asian history during the 1960s and 1970s, vividly portraying the cruelty and violence inflicted by the Khmer Rouge.
Poignant and thoughtful, if not exactly riveting.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781960172082
Page Count: 268
Publisher: Pine Bush Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet bedtime story.
A boy and his stuffed bear head into the woods.
Having captured readers’ attention with Born a Crime (2016), his bestselling memoir of growing up in South Africa, comedian and television host Noah has written a parable about decision-making. As he puts it in a brief prologue, “It’s about disagreements and difference—but it’s also about how we bridge those gaps and find what matters most, whether we’re parents or kids, neighbors, gnomes, or political adversaries. It’s a picture book, but it’s not a children’s book. Rather, it is a book for kids to share with parents and for parents to share with kids.” With plentiful illustrations by Hahn and in language aimed at young listeners, it tells the story of a small boy so impatient to start his Saturday adventures that he rebels against the rules of his household and heads out without brushing his teeth or making his bed, despite the reminders of his stuffed bear, Walter. “We can’t just run away,” protests the bear. “Your mother will miss you. And where will we sleep? And who will make us waffles?” “We’ll build our own house,” the boy responds. “And we’ll grow our own waffles!” From there, the pair go on their walkabout, encountering a garden gnome, a pair of snails, and a gang of animated coins who have lessons to offer about making choices. Though the author suggests in the introduction that adult readers might enjoy the book on their own, those looking for a follow-up to the memoir or a foray into adult fiction should be warned that this is not that book.
A sweet bedtime story.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593729960
Page Count: 128
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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