The Mountains Sing is the prose debut of Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. The novel interweaves two stories: grandmother’s and her granddaughter’s. Dieu Lan, born in 1920, is forced to leave her family farm with her six children during land reforms while a communist government is established in the North. Many years later, she tells her story to Hương, her granddaughter, who is growing up while her parents’ generation goes off to fight in the Vietnam-American War.
Vivid, engaging, rich in references to the language and traditions of Vietnam, the family portrait shows a human perspective on the war, gives voice to the Vietnamese people and their memories and experiences, and adds multidimensionality to the one-sided history you too often learn about. Contrary to what you might expect, it is a very warm hopeful story about how love and care can help you survive even the darkest of times.
The book has been showered with awards, including the Blogger’s Book Prize 2021, Best Literary Fiction and Best Multicultural Fiction at the American Book Fest International Book Awards 2021, the best book of 2020 from Buzz Magazine, NPR and the Washington Independent Review of Books.
