Perhaps it is because I am a mother, but my favorite short story is a mother spending a quiet moment before her husband returns from work to talk to her unborn daughter. Her mother spoke to her so she will speak to her daughter and her daughter will then share secrets with her child, as is the way with customs.
She tells her daughter secret things, "to begin counseling (her) in the matters of the world that (she) will soon enter. She tells her daughter of a time when she was young, sixteen, and she met the love of her life, Bao, at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Her families at agreed for them to marry, but fate would take them down a different path. Bao was called into the Army before the ceremony and died in battle somewhere in the mountains.
Tragically beautiful, but at the same time full of hope for the future of her unborn daughter, her daughter by a good man.
There are other great stories within the fairly short collection of work. The people are likable for the most part, some of them not quite developed as others (or perhaps I simply didn't pick up on the subtle nuances). However, I believe the work fills a gap in the American experience as I travel on this journey.
At the age of 29, I wasn't even a glimmer in my parents' eyes (I am not even sure my parents were even dating at the time.) What I know of the Vietnam War I learned from the history books or from the wonderful writings of Tim O'Brian. While the Civil War is a common subject upon which to write, Butler covers an equally important era in our nation's history and in an unsuspecting way: from the perspective of an immigrant. How fitting for a nation of immigrants!
Up next: The Hours by Michael Cunningham, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer.
Until then... Happy reading.
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