Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s The Mountains Sing is the epic, multigenerational tale of the Tran family, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Spanning the French colonial period to the present day, we follow the lives of matriarch Diệu Lan and her granddaughter Huong. Diệu Lan tells Huong of Vietnam’s taboo on discussing “the wrongdoing of those in power, for they give themselves the right to rewrite history.” With luminous prose and a compelling immersive story, The Mountains Sing breaks that silence.

Chaired by Caroline Baum