#BlogTour: The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai #TheMountainsSing #RandomThingsTours @nguyen_p_quemai @OneworldNews @RandomTTours

Book Synopsis:

AN INTIMATE, STIRRING PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY AT WAR AND A FAMILY’S BATTLE TO SURVIVE

Set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War, The Mountains Sing is the enveloping, multi-generational tale of the Trần family, perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing.

Hà Nội, 1972. Hương and her grandmother, Trần Diệu Lan, cling to one another in their improvised shelter as American bombs fall around them. Her father and mother have already left to fight in a war that is tearing not just her country but her family apart. For Trần Diệu Lan, forced to flee the family farm with her six children decades earlier as the Communist government rose to power in the North, this experience is horribly familiar. Seen through the eyes of these two unforgettable women, The Mountains Sing captures their defiance and determination, hope and unexpected joy.

Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn’s richly lyrical debut weaves between the lives of grandmother and granddaughter to paint a unique picture of the country’s turbulent twentieth-century history. This is the story of a people pushed to breaking point, and a family who refuse to give in.

The Mountains Sing is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was a very emotional, captivating read which was very interesting as it told me about a side of the Vietnam war I didn’t know much about.

The story is told from the point of view of multiple generations and it was incredibly poignant to read about everything they went through during the war. The author doesn’t sugar coat things so the reader learns all about the many different experiences people could have during a conflict. Some of the scenes were quite eye opening and hard to read but I think it’s important to learn about these things.

The author has created some wonderful characters which I soon grew to care about. I felt all their losses and hardships deeply as I felt like I knew them personally. I often found myself wishing I could go into the book to give them a hug or help them in some way.

The author has cleverly included a lot about Vietnamese culture which I really enjoyed learning about, especially their way of life as it was very different from life in the UK. The author has kept in some of the original Vietnamese language which I thought really added to the story and the atmosphere. I found myself completely caught up in this beautiful story and found myself turning the pages faster and faster, even as I tried to slow down as I didn’t want the story to end. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to One world for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai was born in Việt Nam in 1973, and grew up witnessing the war’s devastation of her country. She worked as a street seller and rice farmer before winning a scholarship to attend university in Australia. She is the author of eight books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction in Vietnamese. Her writing has been translated and published in more than ten countries and has received many honors, including the Hà Nội Writers Association’s Poetry of the Year 2010 Award. She currently divides her time between Indonesia and Việt Nam.