Book Launch "Brothers and Ghosts" by Khuê Pham

Das sagt der/die Veranstalter:in:

In a personal conversation held at the cozy Kaminzimmer, award-winning ZEIT-journalist Khuê Phạm will talk about the way her own family inspired her to write her first novel, which was widely read in Germany and adapted to stage. Charles Hawley and Daryl Lindsay will share their experience of translating it into English. The talk will be hosted by Samantha Schnee, founder of the literary website "Words Without Borders" and fellow at the American Academy. There will be drinks and a chance to get a copy signed by the author afterwards.

About the book: A young woman, torn between two cultures, belonging to neither. A family, torn apart by a war they had no choice about.

Kiều, who calls herself Kim because it’s easier for Europeans to pronounce, knows little about her Vietnamese family’s history until she receives a Facebook message from her estranged uncle Sơn in America, telling her that her grandmother, her father’s mother, is dying. The two brothers haven’t spoken since the end of the Vietnam War. Minh, Kiều’s father, supported the Vietcong, while Sơn sided with the Americans.

When Kiều and her parents travel to America to join the rest of the family in California for the funeral, questions relating to their past — to what has been suppressed — resurface and demand to be addressed.