The Mountains Sing

by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

wedding. Linh looked just like an angel. Our son, Thiện, was born one year later, followed by our daughter, Nhân. You would

revenge. So, in 1971, I joined the Army of the Republic of Việt Nam, the ARVN.

I realized that blood that is shed can’t make blood flow again in other people’s veins.

Squatting on the ground, I wrote for an uncle I’d been robbed of, who was a leaf pushed away from its tree, but at its last

moment still struggled to fall back to its roots. I wrote for Grandma, who’d hoped for the fire

of war to be extinguished, only for its embers to keep burning her. I wrote for my uncles, my aunt, and my parents, who were helpless in the fight of brother against brother, and whose war went...

I used to believe that blood will tell,

but blood evolves and can change, too. Young people can’t be blamed for what their ancestors did.” She smiled. “Tâm is a good man, Hương. I’ve seen how he made you happy. He told me today you mean everything to him, and he won’t give up on you.” “He did?” “Yes, in front of his parents, so that says a lot. I understand how difficult this has been for you. But I also know that true love is rare, and once we find our

me. The talented and generous novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen gave me much-needed encouragement and introduced me to my wonderful agent Julie Stevenson, who heard The Mountains Sing despite the distance of many oceans between us.

that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth.”

Born into the Việt Nam War in 1973, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai grew up witnessing the war’s devastation and its aftermath.