Paradise of the Blind
by Thu Huong Duong
Book Description
A rich, sensuous journey through a Vietnam rarely seen by outsiders, Paradise of the Blind tells the story of three women fighting to maintain their dignity under a government that discards old values and tears families apart. Hang, a young girl growing into womanhood in the Hanoi slums, finally learns the truth about her father's disappearance and death during the era of government-imposed land reform. Meanwhile, Hang's self-sacrificing mother, a struggling street vendor, watches helplessly as her life is shattered by the political machinations of her own brother. And the mysterious Aunt Tam, who has accumulated wealth and bitterness in equal measure, fights for her niece's loyalty -- and future.Long banned in its own country, this moving novel captures the hunger, pride, and endurance of ordinary people in a land of intoxicating beauty ... as it provides a rare, insightful look into a changing Vietnam.
About the Author
Duong Thu Huong is one of Vietnam's most popular writers. She was born in 1947, and at twenty volunteered to lead a Communist Youth Brigade sent to the front during the Vietnam War. During Chinas's 1979 attack on Vietnam, she also became the first woman combatant present on the front lines to chronicle the conflict. A vocal advocate of human rights and democratic political reform, Duong Thu Huong was expelled from the Vietnamese Communist party in 1989 and was imprisoned without trial in 1991 for her political beliefs. Paradise of the Blind is her fourth novel and her fourth novel to be effectively banned by the Vietnamese government. She is also the author of Novel Without a Name, which was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Duong Thu Huong is not allowed to leave Vietnam. She lives and writes in Hanoi.
Keywords: Paradise of the Blind, Books, Thu Huong Duong, Phan Huy Duong, Nina McPherson, Duong Thu Huong, Thu Hng Dng, Sino-Vietnamese Conflict, 1979, Fiction, Fiction - General, Literary, Historical - General, Asia - Southeast Asia
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