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The Mountains Sing

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The Mountains Sing

By: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Narrated by: Quyen Ngo
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About this listen

With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner's In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War.

Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Nội, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Hồ Chí Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that tore not just her beloved country, but her family apart.

Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, The Mountains Sing brings to life the human costs of this conflict from the point of view of the Vietnamese people themselves, while showing us the true power of kindness and hope. The Mountains Sing is celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's first novel in English.

©2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military World Literature Imperial Japan Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking War Vietnamese Language Learning
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This was an incredible listen. I loved this book so much!
Despite all of the hardships that the grandmother is forced to live through over the years, she perseveres with incredible strength and determination and leaves an empowered legacy for future generations to follow in her footsteps.
This book was educational, inspiring, empowering, uplifting, heartbreaking, endearing and full of wisdom.
After finishing this book, I googled the author and was so impressed to discover that she wrote this novel whilst still learning to speak English. She has done an incredible job writing this book. This isn't just an amazing story, it has also taught me so much that I didn't know about Vietnam. I honestly believe there is no greater gift a writer can give their readers than to educate and open minds whilst keeping them engaged in the story.
The narrator has a lovely soothing voice to listen to, so it was a pleasant listening experience. I did find the narration at the beginning a little flat but she got more expressive the further she went into the book. At times it was hard to tell if it was the grandmother or the granddaughter speaking, although after a while I figured it out. I am going to buy a hard copy of this so I can read it for myself now and absorb it on another level.
Thank you to the author for this moving story!

Stunning in every way

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Beautifully written, this novel is a great real life account of Vietnam, Vietnamese families and a vivid reminder of the many years of conflict and hardships. I am not overly familiar with Vietnam’s history but this book certainly reads very realistic.
I very much enjoyed the ‘real life’ story.
Credit also to the narrator, Quyen Ngo, who was very pleasant to listen to. Her character voices are very good and I loved the always correct pronunciation of Vietnamese words.
Highly recommended book.

Highly recommended

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I loved this book so much. Very touching and inspiring - beautifully written and the reader was wonderful.

Brilliant

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Powerful, emotional and informative through the eyes of the family I have learnt so very much about the heart wrenching challenges Vietnamese has endured over many year. I am inspired by their strength to keep going.

A powerful, emotional & informative journey

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beautiful and painful story with an important lesson
definitely recommend reading this one! ❤️

beautiful

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This novel provides insight into the tortured history of a Vietnamese family across three generations. It’s really well written (& narrated).
Having recently returned from a short trip to Vietnam, what I heard and experience whilst there makes a lot more sense.

Superb

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A fascinating insight into life for the Northern Vietnamese people during the war. I am in awe of the resilience shown by the characters and saddened by all this beautiful nation has suffered. Beautifully written, as always.

Fascinating Insight

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I loved this heart reaching story. A real insight into Vietnam and a families journey through generations

Brilliant Insight

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A beautiful family story told through the eyes of the grandmother & granddaughter. C20 th history of Vietnam. Highly recommend

Courage & Endurance

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The whole story flowed so well and it was just beautiful and moving to read

So moving

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