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The Tapestries
The Tapestries: A Novel | Kien Nguyen
4 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
In THE TAPESTRIES, based loosely on the life of the author's grandfather, who, in the early 1900s, was a professional embroiderer in the court of the last king of Vietnam-Kien Nguyen has reimagined his grandfather's amazing story to weave a tapestry of his own-a stunning and page-turning novel. Dan Nguyen is seven years old when he witnesses his father brutally beheaded by the mayor in a bid for power. Dan's wife, Ven, 20 years his senior, makes him promise to one day avenge his father's death. In order to protect him until he is old enough to defend his family's honor, Ven hides Dan as a servant in the house of the enemy-and Dan falls in love with the one person he can never have, the mayor's beautiful granddaughter Tai May. Dan's journey from slavery into scandal, and finally to the royal court where he has the chance to win Tai May's heart, is a story of spellbinding drama and intrigue, and, ultimately, the story of a great love affair.
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DebinHawaii
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Wrap Up: I only finished one book for #FoodandLit #Vietnam as the month got away from me. I‘m not sure about this book. It‘s between a pick & so-so for me. It did keep me turning the pages to find out what happened but the dialogue & writing was stilted & oh my is it violent!😱Being female or a servant, not to mention a female servant in early 1900s Vietnam was pretty bleak. It was interesting though so I guess I‘ll round up to a reluctant pick.⬇️

DebinHawaii For food, I got excellent takeout, made a delicious soup & tried a rather sketchy banh mi wrap from the freezer section. (I will stick with Amy‘s bean burritos thank you.) I also have some Vietnamese chocolate 🍫 still to try thanks to our hosts.🤗💜For more details on the food just look at the previous posts for this book. I wanted to cook & read more but maybe next month for Ethiopia. 3y
Texreader Lovely wrap-up. I haven‘t tried the chocolate yet. Was thinking of trying to save a day for all of us to try it together but that‘s pretty hard since we‘re spread across the globe 😁 3y
DebinHawaii @Texreader Hah! I can eat chocolate for breakfast! 😂 That would be fun! 3y
Catsandbooks The food looks great! I love seeing the soups you make! 3y
57 likes4 comments
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DebinHawaii
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Lunch is Hawaiian-spicy ahi & ahi limu (seaweed) poke bowl, not Vietnamese but I‘m trying to get a bit more of this book in today at work for #FoodandLit I‘m only 4 chapters in & it‘s an interesting glimpse into life in 1916 #Vietnam where a 24-year-old farm girl is married to the 7-year-old son of a wealthy shipping guy & is basically the family servant-so that‘s a little disturbing, but we‘ll see.
Such a crazy work week I‘m missing Litsy! TGIF!

TiminCalifornia That looks and sounds delicious. 3y
Texreader I agree. I don‘t know when I‘ve needed a weekend so badly. 3y
Come-read-with-me Looks yummy! 3y
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Leftcoastzen Looks yummy! 3y
MicheleinPhilly Wait? A 7 year old??? 3y
DebinHawaii @MicheleinPhilly Yeah, so far she‘s the family servant & babysitter so nothing untoward but still the idea is creepy. 3y
DebinHawaii @Texreader So badly! 😬 3y
DebinHawaii @TiminCalifornia @Leftcoastzen @Come-read-with-me Thanks! It‘s really fresh & good. 😋 3y
84 likes8 comments
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DebinHawaii
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It was a long week & I was craving Vietnamese food so I ordered in tonight & had a little couch dinner. Veggie spring rolls on the left & a lemongrass tofu rice noodle bowl on the right. Both were really good & there‘s plenty leftovers for tomorrow. 😋I have not started the tagged book yet for #FoodandLit #Vietnam but I hope to soon. 🇻🇳

Texreader Oh that all sounds so delicious. I need to find a Vietnamese restaurant and go crazy. 3y
TrishB Looks lovely 💜 3y
AmyG That looks delicious. 3y
TheSpineView Yummy 3y
Catsandbooks Yum!! 3y
78 likes5 comments
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DebinHawaii
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Spent time this weekend planning #Vietnam for this month‘s #FoodandLit 🇻🇳 I think this one will be easier in terms of locating & eating food here. I will be making an old favorite from a Seattle restaurant Vietnamese Grilled Catfish with Noodles (Cha Ca) & hitting up a few cookbooks from my collection for more ideas. Book-wise the tagged book will be my first read. It sounded fascinating & is $1.99 on Kindle. The other 2 I had on my Kindle.🤗

Texreader Sounds like it‘ll be a great month for you. And this book sounds amazing! Looking forward to your review! 3y
Butterfinger I'm going to google that catfish dish. It sounds delicious. 3y
DebinHawaii @Texreader Thanks! Looking forward to it! 🤗 3y
DebinHawaii @Butterfinger Here‘s a link to my blog post with the recipe from Sunset Magazine. I haven‘t made it in years but think of it often! 😋 https://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/vietnamese-grilled-catfish-with-nood... 3y
alisiakae The catfish noodle dish sounds yummy! Haven‘t had that one before! I‘m looking forward to lots of pho this month. 😃 3y
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