It has been 40 years, and the Vietnam War is farther and farther away from us. However, a Taiwanese writer who grew up in Vietnam and can speak Chinese, English, French, and Vietnamese, has brought the memories back to us.
Vera Lam, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, spent her childhood in Vietnam’s most turbulent times. In her award-winning debut novel “The Lonely American.” the war is told by both sides—civilians and an American soldier.
Published in Taiwan in both Chinese and English, the novel won the first prize in the Chinese-language book award category by the Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations in 2014.
In an October gathering of the North American Chinese Writers Association of Southern California in Monterey Park, I met Vera Lam for the first time.
