Review: "A Very Emotional Story of Redemption and Forgiveness"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
First, I have to say once you get into this remarkable story, you will be compelled to read it to the very end.  The center character of this story is Heng Souk, who was the commander of the Citadel of Thai Binh in Vietnam in the early '70s where American soldiers were held captive, and where they were executed and buried.  Souk personally executed most of the men.  Now, 40 years later, Sun Tieng, is on a mission her father had asked her to do upon his death: deliver a box to his brother, Heng Souk.  He is not very friendly to his niece, but he does reveal what is in the box. Her uncle is now a thin, short, aged man, and appears to have no interest in the lose of his brother.  Sun is very mad and upset. She follows him to his wooden shanty at the end of an alley where they talk briefly. She is surprised to see stacks of books arranged on the floor, and also a Bible beside his bed.  Before she leaves, she tucks under her arm a notebook...old and worn, yellowed pages with English writing.  At home, she starts to read what appears to be a diary written by Ephraim Luther, an American prisoner held captive by her Uncle Heng.  It painfully reveals the cruelties suffered by prisoners. When Sun confronts her mother about her uncle who she now despises, but wants to know more about him, Ahn refuses to talk about Heng. In fact, her husband, Hug, and her mother both forbid her to go back to see Heng. As she reads the notebook, Sun finds it shocking to realize her uncle, this old man,  was a monstrous soldier, who now appears to be weak and humble, who chooses not to discuss history with her.  Another character is an American man, Thomas, who has lost his 3-year old daughter in a drowning, and also loses his wife in divorce. The world tumbles down around him when he finds out that his real father had never returned from the Vietnam war and his mother never had closure as to what really had happened to him.  Thus, Thomas sets off to Vietnam determined to find the truth about his father. These three stories entwine around the Citadel and the nearby burial grounds. This novel starts a little slowly introducing the several characters, but before long one becomes so involved in the deep tensions suffered by so many.  It's very revealing and powerful, a story which will move you, and one you'll never forget.  Thank you author S. R. Wilsher for bringing reality to readers of the impact war has on everyone.