About this Event
Hosted by historian Dr Julia Martins, The Book and Bottle host a monthly historical fiction book club.
History may be written in textbooks, but it comes alive in stories. Each month we’ll delve into a historical novel that transports us to another era, uncovering the people, places, and events that continue to shape our world.
The book choice, as voted by our club, for this months meet is The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINS SING:
THE BESTSELLING STORY OF TWO GENERATIONS OF WOMEN WHOSE LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVER BY THE VIET NAM WAR
'An epic account of Viet Nam's painful 20th-century history, both vast in scope and intimate in its telling... Moving and riveting.' Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer
Ha Noi, 1972. Hương and her grandmother, Trần Diệu Lan, cling to one another in their improvised shelter as American bombs fall around them. For Trần Diệu Lan, forced to flee the family farm with her six children decades earlier as the Communist government rose to power in the North, this experience is horribly familiar. Seen through the eyes of these two unforgettable women, The Mountains Sing captures their defiance and determination, hope and unexpected joy.
Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn’s richly lyrical debut weaves between the lives of a grandmother and granddaughter to paint a unique picture of a country pushed to breaking point, and a family who refuse to give up.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Book and Bottle, 8 Old Cross, Hertford, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.