Dear Great Book Guru,
April showers have come a few days early to Sea Cliff and as I sit
looking out at another rainy day, my thoughts turn to finding a good book. I am a fan of short stories long on beauty
and insight. Do you have any
suggestions? Awaiting April
Dear Awaiting April, Unlike you, I am not a huge fan of short stories, but I
just finished a remarkable collection of eight beautifully written, compelling
tales: THE REFUGEES by Viet Thanh Nguyen- author of last year’s Pulitzer Prize
winning novel THE SYMPATHIZER. Nguyen
left Vietnam as a young man – a refugee who found a home in California. His newest book recounts the lives of those
who came here and those who remained behind, and how these lives intersect. In the opening story, a young woman is haunted
by the spirit of her brother who died helping her escape, but she finds herself
questioning who is truly the ghost: she or her brother. Others of the refugees
include an elderly professor who begins to confuse his wife with a young girl
he knew long ago in Vietnam. Soon we see that each of Nguyen’s characters is
forced to deal with the present and the past. It is not their memories that pain
them, but their need to forget so much of what formed them. While each refugee’s story is unique, all
share the pain of a lost homeland. Highly recommended!