
Meeting Maggie forces Hung to remember a lot of things he has been trying to forget. Dao, the editor of the illegal magazines being published at Hung’s shop, was sent to a re-education camp and never came back. Hung has been taken care of Dao’s son and now it is Dao’s son and grandson who take care of Hung. And then there Lan, the old spinster who has been living next to Hung all her life and is the love of his life, but they haven’t spoken for 45 years.
Camilla Gibb’s three previous books are high up on my list of favourite books, and especially Mouthing the Words. But when I finished this book, all I thought was was this all? Yes, the story is good and it gives a great insight to a state I know little about. But I never really connected with the story and I felt that it barely scratched the surface of what could be a really great book.