A beautiful and tragic tale of a North Vietnamese family torn apart again and again by politics and war. The resilience of Huong's grandmother (and in other sections, her other family members), was immersive and painful to experience as a reader, especially knowing this was based on real events and knowing the part that America played in the Vietnam War. I don't think I've read a book based on the perspective of North Vietnamese characters before, and it really drove home how dehumanizing war is to everyone involved--except for those in power--and the lasting trauma and harm caused to people and places by "conflicts."