Review of Once Upon a Mulberry Field by C.L. Hoang

Once upon a Mulberry Field by C.L. Hoang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book moved me on two levels. One, I felt myself falling backwards through time as I read the familiar terms: Cam-Ranh Bay. Long Binh. Sh*t hooks (Chinooks), slicks, Puff, and Warthogs. Charlie. Khmer Rouge. And the worst of all: Tet.

In 1967, when this story really begins, I was a carefree seventh-grader in southern California. In a few years I would enter high school, and begin to learn of brothers and sweethearts engaged in a war on the other side of the world. I would send care packages to a friend's sweetheart; see the grief in the eyes of a teacher whose husband was deployed; and marry first one Viet Nam vet, and then another. I would learn of their nightmares, hear of soldiers sleeping in mud paddies and removing leeches from their skin in the morning. I heard of a denied request for a hardship leave when a solder's sister, living stateside, barely survived a suicide attempt. I will never forget the stories of Kent State, the People's Park in San Francisco, or of desperate people climbing a Saigon rooftop, atop which fluttered a helicopter to freedom.

So, on one level, this story of Roger Connors takes me back to those days. I was riveted by the account of this young American landing in country and finding his way amid bombings and bloodshed, but also, friendship. Learning to love the local people; one, especially. Finding out what life was really like, there on the ground in South Viet Nam. I was disturbed to be reminded of how, upon their return to the USA, our young men were punished for their involuntary participation in an unpopular war. ("Support Our Troops" is now a given, but it was a policy born of remorse for that misplaced hatred.) I was equally disturbed by Roger's personification of a Vet with PTSD after his return. How confusing to come back to one's former beloved country, still caught up in the turmoil of combat, grieving for friends still in harm's way.

But on another level, this is the story of a love affair, and I cried my eyes out toward the end. What a skillful portrayal of the human condition. We're all just fighting to create a good life for ourselves and our loved ones. How wonderful if it all works out, and how bittersweet, if not. The author, C.L. Hoang, a native of Viet Nam who moved to America in his youth, manages to craft a tale that portrays the unacknowledged commonalities between warring cultures.

This is a beautifully-wrought story, made richer by the fact that the author began it only as a way of recording his father's history. As he wrote and researched, he began to interact with veterans, who told him their stories. Roger Connors is an amalgam of those veterans, and the book bears heartbreaking witness to the struggles of those on both sides. C.L. Hoang has written a first class debut novel. I hope there will be many more.




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