Welcome to Litsy!

This is an official bail. I got halfway and then skimmed ahead, but alas it just didn‘t hook me. I didn‘t feel emotionally or personally connected to the MC, as if she were keeping me at arm‘s length. I guess the writing felt rather dry, more akin to a journalistic report about the experience of Vietnamese boat people rather than an immersive novel.

Still, a feat for a debut and a Women‘s Prize nomination to boot! I applaud the accomplishment.

Really enjoyed this one. Despite the fact that this happened in my lifetime I don‘t remember much about the refugee situation. Though I do remember ‘the Vietnamese boat people.‘
We‘re not really treating refugees any better are we 😞

I‘m not going to review this until I read it in print. The audio left me wondering what the fuss is about, which given the Litsy love makes me think I‘m missing something. Admittedly I don‘t pay attention to audio the same way I do for print.

I picked up "Wandering Souls" because we are looking to add it to our summer reading list. I didn't know anything about it, but I loved it! If you like stories of survival, or want to learn something about Vietnam refugees, you may enjoy this one.

4 stars. In 1979 16 year old Ahn leaves Vietnam with her 2 younger brothers. They end up in a refugee camp waiting for the rest of the family to join them. Tragedy strikes, and Ahn is now the adult of the family as she tries to hold onto the dreams for a better life. A look at grief over loss of family, country, culture, and dreams. I suggest reading it and not audio. It really jumps around, so you have to pay attention. Multiple viewpoints.

Audiobook in our gym with the hubs. And yes, he takes hot coffee to the gym 🥰 The tagged book is starting out excellent. Late 1970s, as 3 sibling refugees leave Vietnam and attempt to settle in the UK. Hauntingly beautiful look at grief. You have to really pay attention to the audiobook it jumps around.

Incredibly moving debut inspired by Pin‘s mother‘s story. Elegant, restrained writing with an unconventional structure that I found very effective. We get a few different points of view (including that of a ghost, a “wandering soul”), some sections that are the writer‘s reflections, and some that provide context in the form of newspaper articles or, in one case, a letter from Margaret Thatcher. Another great read from the #WomensPrize longlist!

In the 1970s the Vietnamese Boat People became the first sizeable non-European immigration group in my home town. As a child I had a confused notion that they had sailed all the way to Norway. I had no notion of refugee camps or quotas. This book opens in my birth year and follow a family up until the present. It's short and quickly read, it's lyrical yet occasionally brutal, sad but hopeful, informative, layered, emotional but never overwrought.

There is a proper way to grieve in the eyes of others: not too little, not too much. But there is a part of grieving that occurs behind the curtains, a part that is just for us and the deceased. And I suspect it is in this private communion, away from the crowd and the judgement, that we can find solace.

Currently listening 🎧
I have a feeling this one is going to break my heart

Three siblings flee ahead of the rest of their family from their village in 1978 Vietnam. The book follows their journey through camps and eventually to the UK. This is a short book that primarily focuses on broad strokes, but it shows the breadth of their situation as they go through life. Very affecting.

#BookReport. My favorite book of the week is tagged. The story of 3 children who make a perilous journey from Vietnam to England as refugees and quietly try to find their place. A well done debut. #WomensPrize

Still reading The Hobbit. Daughter and boyfriend are setting the pace and it‘s nice to read it leisurely. I‘m loving The Bandit Queens on audio. I need to finish Fortnight today and get it mailed for #LMPBC. Sorry to be running late.

Book 5 of the Women's Prize long list
Read as ARC on e-reader, the book doesn't come out for a bit yet in the US. This is a gorgeous and sad book about three siblings who flee Viet Nam after the US invasion. There is not much detail about the war itself, but you can feel the desperation from the father to get his family to a better life, the story focuses on the siblings who survive to become refugees in England. 4❣️

There is a proper way to grieve in the eyes of others: not too little, not too much. But there is a part of grieving that occurs behind the curtains, a part that is just for us and the deceased. And I suspect it is in this private communion, away from the crowd and the judgement, that we can find solace.

#WomensPrizeLonglist2023

Catching up with some long overdue reviews. Thanks to #NetGalley and #HenryHolt for an #ARC of this book. This title published this week in the US. This is Cecile Pin's first novel & she will be a writer to watch. Her writing style is quite lovely. This story of 3 siblings fleeing post-war Vietnam and their struggle as refugees is emotional, but the author keeps you rooting for them. I felt fully involved in these characters lives. It's a pick! 👍

I liked the unusual format of this #womensprize long listed book of 3 Vietnamese refugee children who hope to go to America, but end up in England. Much of the story is told from their point of view, but this is interspersed with the voice of a ghostly relative watching them from limbo, political excerpts from 70s UK, short accounts of a Vietnam War campaign and a rather meta-fictional diary of the narrator.

I can see this making the shortlist.

This book is a visceral read about three siblings who left Vietnam on a boat not long after the American troops left. The book looks at grief, loss and the effects on generations as a result of migration. The story is told from multiple perspectives and it is complex but in just under 250 pages, we experience the journey of a refugee leaving their homeland to a place they may never belong or feel wanted.

Wow! This was a fantastic debut despite a few structural issues. The story of a young girl & her 2 siblings who escape Vietnam in 1978 as they hope to resettle in the United States but find themselves instead in the UK. As refugees their lives are about adapting, surviving, thriving. A book about grief, healing, belonging. Based on real events the author weaves multiple storylines and true accounts of the Vietnamese “boat people”. #AudioWalk👇🏼