A review by tamara_mousa
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Mountains Sing is a thrilling saga that Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai wrote about rebelling against tyranny and the wrongdoings that scarred her family between 1942 and 1980. This enthralling novel described the end of the French rule (1857-1945), break out of WWII and the Japanese invasion to ViệtNam (1940-1945), followed by the ViệtNam War (1955-1975) that involved the American intrusion to assist the South of the country to fight communism in the North (1964-1973). Yet, the North won and formed the communist government, which punished everyone who assisted the southern Vietnamese by enforcing land reform, confiscating businesses, and sending Vietnamese to 2-year re-education labor camps. This resulted in brutally murdering and prosecuting landowners and southern empathizers, forcing many of these families to move from Saigon (southern of ViệtNam) to Hà Nội (northern of ViệtNam) or immigrate to the US. A complete summary is available in my blog: www.tamarayousefmousa.com