Daughters of the River Huong by Vietnam-born, Houston-based writer Uyen Nicole Duong is a richly woven tapestry of family, country, conflict, and redemption. A saga spanning four generations of Vietnamese women, we discover lives inextricably tied to their country’s struggle for independence. Narrated by the teenaged Simone, a girl who flaunts convention and enters into a forbidden relationship of love and sensuality, readers are drawn to the lives of four of Simone’s ancestors, from Huyen Phi, the Mystique Concubine from the extinct Kingdom of Champa, to Ginseng, the Mystique Concubine’s second daughter and a heroine of the Vietnamese Revolution. Duong tells a tumultuous story of power and lust that transports us from the Violet City of Hue to the teeming streets of a Saigon at war, from the affluence of Paris’s St. Germain des Pres to Manhattan. Love, war, capitalism, revolution—this novel delivers a chronicle of history as fascinating as it is memorable.
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"I enjoyed this book. It was a nice story of 4 generations of women. There were times that I felt lost in some of the more abstract chapters, but overall a good read." — Sara (4 out of 5 stars)
"I enjoyed this book. It was a nice story of 4 generations of women. There were times that I felt lost in some of the more abstract chapters, but overall a good read."
" loved it ... traveling thru so many lives and so many times. "
" I liked this book. Very interesting facts about Vietnam in the 60's and 70's. "
" Don't let this less than original and often predictable story prevent you from experiencing Uyen Duong's writing. She has the gift. Her writing skill level is as high as any I've ever enjoyed. "
" Excellent writing. The story of four generations of women in Vietnam from the time of Royalty and the French Occupation through the fall of Saigon and beyond. "
" really good until the last two chapters--seemed like she was rushing the ending....weird... "
" I loved this book. I'm not sure if it would have touched me as much as it did if I hadn't been to many of the places in Vietnam where the story took place. "
" I liked the transposition of different stories, but I didn't feel very connected with the narrator at any point. She was kind of tunnel-visioned compared to her ancestors. The Mystique Concubine was awesome though. I wish there had been an appendix with historical data. "
" I enjoyed the first half, but once the stories of the previous generation were done, the story dragged. Still, I enjoyed the history and the glimpse into Vietnamese culture. "
Uyen Nicole Duong was born in Vietnam and emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen, a political refugee from a country torn apart by war. She earned a BS in communication and journalism from Southern Illinois University, a law degree from the University of Houston, and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard. She was also trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena. She has been a journalist, public education administrator, attorney, law professor, and a self-taught painter whose work focuses on l’Art Brut. The author resides in Houston, Texas.
Leslie Bellair is a voice-over artist, stage and film actor, trained singer, and certified speech-language pathologist. Her voice can be heard on the iPhone application “Diss Crazy!,” the online game “Back to the Cubeture 2,” various audio books published for Audible, Inc., Carina Press, and Oxford Press, as well as the short animated Christmas movie An Elf’s Story. Her professional musical theater work in the Atlanta area has greatly contributed to the characterizations and versatility she brings to the voice-over mic.
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