Review: Deeply moving story of people searching for truth
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2014
S. R. Wilsher's THE COLLECTION OF HENG SAUK is a beautifully told story of people caught up in generations of secrets.  In the aftermath of her father's death, Vietnamese doctor Sun Tieng pays a visit to Heng Souk, the uncle she never knew.  Heng seems disinterested in speaking with her, and unconcerned about his brother's recent death, but it quickly becomes apparent that Heng's life is more deeply intertwined with Sun's and her mother's than she ever knew.  As her relationship with Heng intensifies, she learns a great deal about his past as the commander of a prison called the Citadel of Thai Binh, and the many inhumane things he did there during the Vietnam War.At the same time, television producer Thomas Allen learns, after the death of his own father, that his mother has kept an important secret from him.  His real father was an Air Force pilot named Jefferson Carlyle, who may or may not have died at the prison in Thai Binh.  As Sun explores the secrets of her uncle's past, Thomas journeys to Vietnam to discover the truth about his father.  What is the connection between Heng Souk and Jefferson Carlyle, and how can decisions made decades ago affect the lives of both Sun and Thomas today?Wilsher's novel is deeply poignant, with beautifully drawn characters and a plot that cleverly meshes multiple stories into one.  I was quickly captivated by both Sun and Thomas, even before I saw any connection between them.  Wilsher begins with Thomas at his supposed father's funeral, and then he switches to Sun's first meeting with Heng after her own father's passing.  It isn't until the mid-point in the novel that bits and pieces of information begin to suggest that what Sun is discovering from Heng may be pivotal to Thomas's own journey.  Sun herself is a damaged character, a professional woman living with a brutish and controlling husband; she struggles to assert herself while her husband pressures her to be subservient.  At the same time, Thomas is struggling to recover from the recent death of his three-year-old daughter and the resulting disintegration of his marriage. Both characters are searching for something, yet neither is fully aware of what that something is.A big part of THE COLLECTION OF HENG SAUK is taken up with the journal of a man named Ephraim Luther, and American POW at the Thai Binh prison in Vietnam.  Sun finds the journal in her uncle's apartment, and as she reads it, she learns much about her uncle's horrendous acts of violence, as well as some of the young men who died at his hands.  Similarly, a part of Thomas's story revolves around a series of letters between his mother and Jefferson Carlyle, written during the Vietnam War.  For decades Thomas's mother has wondered what happened to Carlyle, whether he truly loved her, and why he never returned to her.  Some of the answers may ultimately come from Sun and Heng Sauk.My only real criticism of this novel is that the American characters (Thomas and his family, as well as journal-writer Ephraim Luther) don't sound American.  Wilsher is a British writer, and he writes this story using very British phrasing - Americans don't use words like "spoilt" or "smelt" (it's "spoiled" and "smelled"), we don't spell "color" as "colour" or "apologize" as "apologise."  We don't call the "backyard" the "garden," nor do we call a pencil "eraser" a "rubber," nor do we call the "mail" the "post," nor do we call our mothers "Mum."  This isn't a huge problem with the novel, but it is a bit confusing when a very American character speaks (or writes) like a very British character.  A good editor would be able to catch these, and I would encourage Wilsher to make the effort to Americanize his American characters.That said, THE COLLECTION OF HENG SAUK is a wonderful novel, regardless of the Britishisms.  It has a lot to say about faith, about courage in the face of almost certain defeat, and about repentance and redemption.  At one point in the story, prisoner Ephraim Luther says to his torturer, "What about you, Heng Souk?  When [the angels] come to collect you at the end of your life, are you ready to accept their choice for you?"  In many ways, the greatest journey in this novel is Heng's, as he comes face-to-face with the truth about his own choices and tries to come to terms both with the man he was, and the man he wants to be before his death.  This is a very powerful novel with a lot to say about human behavior and what we owe each other as men and women.  I recommend it highly.[Please note:  I was provided a copy of this novel for review; the opinions expressed here are my own.]