Tales from a Mountain City

Description

What happens to a Vietnamese family when a change of government turns their whole world upside down? How would you feel if your money lost its value overnight? If a group of soldiers moved into your house? If your books were thrown on a bonfire in your yard? If your children were taught to chant slogans at school instead of learning language, and dug holes instead of studying science?

Tales from a Mountain City is a blend of history and memoir told by a young Vietnamese girl growing up during the last years of the war and the communist regime. This is a poignant account of the innocence of a child, the innocence of a people, shattered again and again by the cruel tides of power and dogma, clinging tenaciously to their traditions, their home provinces, their hometowns, until the sheer pervasiveness of a communist value system drives them to suicide or exile.

Indirectly, this story raises many questions on nationalism and qualities of power, freedom and independence, human rights and human nature.

‘Surprisingly, the author imbues this gruelling tale with lightness and charm appropriate to the naivety of a child. This is an effective device that cloaks the reader in the same ignorance and innocence and, as in The Diaries of Anne Frank, finds a path through the terrible histories shielded from the absolute atrocity that is war.’

– Driftwood

About the Author

Quynh Dao escaped Vietnam by boat to Malaysia and came to Australia as a refugee in 1979. She is a member of the Refugee Council and Amnesty International.

Tales from a Mountain City is among the winners of the 2007 Australian Society of Authors mentorship program.

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