Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

June 11, 2025

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

Forty years after the Viet Nam war ended, the country is still feeling the after-effects of a senseless war. The story follows three characters: Dan, an American veteran suffering from PTSD who fathered a child with a Vietnamese bar girl, and returns to Vietnam about 40 years later with his wife to try to find the woman and their child; two Vietnamese sisters, Trang and Quynh, who became bar girls during the war to support their family; and Phong, a mixed race man who is a “dust child” fathered by a Black GI, who desperately wants to find his father so he can move his family to the United States. 

A look at the aftermath of the Viet Nam war from a different perspective, that of those left behind to deal with the consequences, told from three different POVs. The Viet Nam war is the background here. A dust child is a mixed race child, the illegitimate child of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier. Thousands of American GIs left behind these dust children, who were often discriminated against and denied basic human rights. Many of these children were abandoned or given away by their mothers, who feared retaliation from the Viet Cong for associating with American soldiers (which thankfully did not happen). While the children of white GIs suffered, children of Black GIs were treated far worse. I found the character of Dan, the American veteran, to be the least appealing. Themes and triggers include PTSD, exploitation of women, sexual abuse, poverty, and racial discrimination. Recommended for readers who want an alternate perspective on a controversial war.

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, in the 21st century

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

July 16, 2020 

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que

Huong is born into a Vietnam torn by war, and as her parents and uncles go off to fight in a conflict that is tearing the country apart, she is left in the care of her grandmother in Ha Noi. They survive repeated aerial bombings until eventually they are forced to flee to the countryside.  Huong’s voice set in the last years of the Vietnam War alternates with her grandmother Dieu Lan, who shares the story of her childhood and her family, including her flight to Ha Noi with her five children in 1955 and the many times that she has had to reinvent her life.

The only thing that most of us know about Vietnam is the Vietnam War of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s when the United States as well as other United Nations countries became involved in a conflict to oppose the communist regime of North Vietnam.  But Vietnam is an ancient country, and artifacts have been found that date back to the Paleolithic Age.  Vietnam has a long and turbulent history, and in the 20^th century alone, the Vietnamese people suffered through wars, famine, communist land reform where landowners were forced off their land or killed and their property reorganized as collectives, and reunification that resulted in over a quarter of a million residents of South Vietnam being sent to re-education camps that were nothing more than forced labor camps.  In the novel, Huong notes that many of the governmental crimes against the Vietnamese people have been excluded from their history and are forbidden to be discussed.

Readers who enjoyed In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner, When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe, or Pachinko by Min Jin Lee will enjoy this multi-generational family history of Vietnam.  The author is a poet and it shows in her writing.  However, you should be aware that there are a number of incredibly brutal incidents that make the reader wonder how much one country can be expected to endure.  Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or books about Vietnam.