Welcome to another review on Armed with A Book, friends! Today, I am sharing a short translated book, written by Kim Thúy, in French, and translated by Sheila Fischman to English. Em is a unique story set in the backdrop of the Vietnam war and presenting how the lives of certain people intersected. Beautifully written with lyrical prose, Em not just tells the story of these characters but also educates us about the times of war and more. I was reminded of The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai as well as The Farm by Joanne Ramos, both of which Ariel and I discussed on the blog. Take a look at the synopsis and content notes then read on for my thoughts!
Emma-Jade and Louis are born into the havoc of the Vietnam War. Orphaned, saved and cared for by adults coping with the chaos of Saigon in free-fall, they become children of the Vietnamese diaspora. Em is not a romance in any usual sense of the word, but it is a word whose homonym—aimer, to love—resonates on every page, a book powered by love in the larger sense. A portrait of Vietnamese identity emerges that is wholly remarkable, honed in wartime violence that borders on genocide, and then by the ingenuity, sheer grit and intelligence of Vietnamese-Americans, Vietnamese-Canadians and other Vietnamese former refugees who go on to build some of the most powerful small business empires in the world. Em is a poetic story steeped in history, about those most impacted by the violence and their later accomplishments. In many ways, Em is perhaps Kim Thúy’s most personal book, the one in which she trusts her readers enough to share with them not only the pervasive love she feels but also the rage and the horror at what she and so many other children of the Vietnam War had to live through.
Written in Kim Thúy’s trademark style, near to prose poetry, Em reveals her fascination with connection. Through the linked destinies of characters connected by birth and destiny, the novel zigzags between the rubber plantations of Indochina; daily life in Saigon during the war as people find ways to survive and help each other; Operation Babylift, which evacuated thousands of biracial orphans from Saigon in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War; and today’s global nail polish and nail salon industry, largely driven by former Vietnamese refugees—and everything in between. Here are human lives shaped both by unspeakable trauma and also the beautiful sacrifices of those who made sure at least some of these children survived.
Content Notes include depiction of wartime atrocities, violence, death, trauma, gore, unknown parents.
Thoughts on Em
Em is about real storytelling and recognizing that even when we want to tell the truth, we can never do justice to it. Based on what our focal point of attention is, there will be lots of details about a day and time that will not be put into words for the reader. Kim Thúy is an amazing storyteller and through her writing, she portrays not just the characters but also gives much needed historical context and commentary.
On Indochina
Couple months back I reviewed A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe which taught me about the French colony of Indochine which is now Vietnam, Lao and Cambodia. I love when I can come to books with certain knowledge from other books. A Hundred Suns was about a rubber plantation in Hanoi. That is exactly where Em begins too – with a history of rubber and latex and how the French meant to have Indochine as an economical colony, not one for settling.
Through Em, I also learned about the heavy influence that the French had on Vietnamese culture during their rule. There are so many words from French that are seeped into the Vietnamese language, and vice versa. In short chapters, Kim tells the reader about the discovery of rubber, how there came to be shortage during the wars, how it was related to sex, and ultimately how one of our main characters, Tam, was born. A Hundred Suns portrayed the tensions between the plantation workers and French entrepreneurs who owned the plantations. Em made those struggles more real through the characters and the fast pace of the book.
On Humanity
War destroys families but in times of needs, people also step up and take responsibility for children, giving them a new start. There are a number of characters in Em without whose goodwill and strength, our protagonists would not have survived. If it wasn’t for the nurse and American helicopter pilot, Tam would be another dead body in the war zone.
I don’t think I can rave enough about Kim’s writing. For a short book, she develops the characters at key points and that is all the reader needs to form a full picture of them. The adoption of children and who they become, the path that they take in life, the memories from long ago, are all embedded in the storyline at the right time.
Reading Experience Summary
Em is a thought-provoking book about the ways in which people’s lives intersect. In times of war, there is so much uncertainty that it is impossible to know who will end up where, especially if the country is at the epicenter of the war. I loved the writing style and the lyrical prose of this book. Kim has a magic in storytelling that I have never read before and it is fascinating that the translation continues to do it justice. I connected with the characters and felt a kinship to them which I had not expected for such a short book.
I did not realize that Kim Thúy is also the author of Ru. This book was on my TBR for a long time until during one clean up session I removed now. Now that I am more familiar with Kim’s writing style, it is back on my list. Most of the author’s books have one word names with significance in French or Vietnamese. I look forward to bringing more of them to you!
Will you pick up this book?
Em is available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and order it through there to help this book reach more readers.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
If you want to read the French edition, you can find it here.
Many thanks to the author for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
From Goodreads: Kim Thúy arrived in Canada in 1979, at the age of ten. She has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer and restaurant owner. She currently lives in Montreal where she devotes herself to writing.
Her debut novel Ru won the Governor General’s Award for French language fiction at the 2010 Governor General’s Awards. An English edition, translated by Sheila Fischman, was published in 2012 and was a shortlisted nominee for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Thúy spent her early childhood in Vietnam before fleeing with her parents as boat people and settling in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil. She has degrees in law, linguistics and translation from the Université de Montréal.
Thank you for reading this post about Em! If there are any translated books you would recommend, please let me know in the comments.
Cover image: Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
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