A Grain of Rice

Debut author Nhun Tran-Davies immerses the reader in this deeply moving fictionalized account of her family’s escape from Vietnam following the fall of Saigon. The novel’s first line: “Ma’s shouts brought me back. ‘Grab Tien! Climb the ladder!’”, grabs the reader’s attention as a flash flood overcomes their village. Yen, 13, is the middle of five children being cared for by their single mother Ma. Their father has been taken away for ‘re-education’, and Yen longs for the day when the family can be reunited. The oppressive Viet Cong government has taken away all of the family’s possessions and now doles out only meager food rations.

The devastating flood is the deciding factor for Ma. There is no future for her family in Vietnam. Young Yen is not included in her mother’s and older sibling’s plan, but she slowly realizes they are preparing to flee as she witnesses her mother selling their belongings and visiting family. Yen struggles to understand how her Ma is so understanding of prosperous relatives who refuse to help her family and yet so willing to share her family’s meager food with those even worse off. But Yen, too, takes notice of others’ misfortune and is quick to give her own food to those more in need, and it is this generosity that ultimately facilitates her family’s escape.

Yen journeys to Saigon with her mother to sell some produce, and the severe poverty that has been brought on the people of the country is revealed. Many military officers are corrupt, and an encounter with one border guard almost results in their capture and imprisonment. While her mother visits a local church to pray to lost relatives, Yen runs away to the family’s old house in a heartbreaking effort to see her father.

Tran-Davies does not shy away from the terrible realities of post-war Vietnam, including the poverty, corruption, and violence that affected its citizens. The events in this novel are based on history and will act as curriculum tie-in for middle school students. Yen is a well-written character, a strong young teen, struggling to understand the world around her. Ma speaks little, but much is learned by her actions. Much is included in this book including many secondary characters and the many political and social issues of the time.

A Glossary is provided for some of the Vietnamese words and phrases used in the novel. A list of characters and their relation to the protagonist would have been welcome as well.

Nhung N. Tran-Davies is a physician and works as an advocate for social justice through education. Her family came to Canada as refugees from Vietnam when she was a young child. Nhung live just outside Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband, three rambunctious children and five cats.