Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's new novel, Dust Child, takes a closer look at the often-fraught relationships between Vietnamese women and American soldiers during the war. In today's episode, the author tells NPR's Scott Simon how she was always fascinated by the stories of the forgotten children from those relationships – often left behind, abandoned, and raised with a deep resentment for their mixed roots. The novel follows both the perspective of that generation – trying to find a better future – and that of the servicemembers being forced, decades later, to confront their past decisions.

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