Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai: The Mountains Sing (Author Event #5)

On the 6th of February, I had the privilege, courtesy of Sofia(sofia_reads), to meet the wonderful author Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and learn more about her first book that is published in English. The meeting was filled with laughter and love, and it’s safe to say that I fell absolutely in love with her novel The Mountains Sing, after it had ended.

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai was born in a small village in the Northern parts of Việt Nam during the war. As she reached 6 years old, her family moved to the South where she ended up working as a rice worker. Thereafter she won a scholarship to a university in Australia. Never forgetting her roots, Phan Quế Mai then decided to move back home to assist her people as a UN consultant. She currently has 8 books published, which are a combination of poetry, fiction and non-fiction; however, The Mountains Sing is her first book to be published in English.

The authors publishers wanted something new from her, and so she decided on writing this novel. When asked about the story behind her story, Phan Quế Mai took the watchers on a delightful and heart-breaking journey as she explained that there aren’t many books about Việt Nam from the point of view of women. She found that since she had lived in both the North and South, she could channel her experiences and highlight the traumas and struggles that the Vietnamese people went through, and still face.

The book was completed in a span of 7 years, in which the author cried many times throughout. She mentions that while the entirety of the book is saddening, she didn’t feel depressed, but inspired instead. This is because these are real life experiences that she is narrating, and so each tear that she cries for the characters is real and shows that there isn’t much difference between us and them; we can easily relate to them. Therefore, it inspires her to continue telling their stories.

To create such a wonderful and strong novel, Phan Quế Mai had to go through many stages of researching, one of them being speaking to the elders of her country and listening to their narratives. The author mentioned that every time she ever felt the need to stop, or change something in the story, she instantly remembered these old women, whom she believed could only express their stories through her. Listening to the author speak so passionately about these elders shows that she cares deeply for her country and narrating its true story from the direct source. This makes it so easy to love her book, even without reading it, as it is obvious that so much work and love was put into creating this book.

Along with interviews, she had watched movies, read books, visited museums and so much more. She found that it became easier for her to understand her parents when they narrated their stories, once she had sufficient knowledge about the war and the proceedings of it.

Even though a lot of research has been put into her work, she mentions that a lot of the story is also from her own experiences and wishes. For instance, she had never met her grandmothers and always longed to have one. Therefore, in her novel, a grandmother is one of the main characters. She built her characters based on the way her friends and family portray them, as well as visiting and staying with them to gain their insights.

In Việt Nam, the war is called the American War. This suggested that the winners only give one narrative and undermine the less dominant. This is also a reason why she pushed for this book, as it told the story from a less likely narrative. She also explained that there were already a few books on the war but from the perspective of Vietnamese soldiers. She longs to tell the story from that of the women, who had to wait every day wondering if the men of their family were safe, while also keeping the family together at home.

The author constantly expresses her thoughts on making the book 100% authentic and not changing anything. Sofia mentioned that some words in the book were left in Vietnamese, and that no glossary was included. The words in the book, although in English, had the dots and lines included with them. This further showed that this book is Vietnamese and nothing else. She also mentioned that in the final editing stages, her editor wished to change the spelling of Việt Nam to how it is ‘typically’ spelt, but the author resisted and pressured them to keep it how it would be spelt in Việt Nam instead. This aspect of the novel reassures a reader that what they are reading is reliable and therefore makes it more enjoyable.

Even whilst speaking to the watchers on the live, Phan Quế Mai was not afraid to first explain an aspect in Vietnamese, and then continue to translate in English. I loved this about her and found that I was being embraced into her culture. This made me want to learn more about Việt Nam and read her novel so much more.

Writing such a novel has put the author in danger with her government. However, she fought against the fear and published the book. She mentions that it is her duty to tell the stories of the oppressed, otherwise they would never express themselves and they would leave this world with no one knowing of their struggles. The author declares that she removed this fear by thinking of her people, her country and to achieve peace in a country that has been torn apart.

She is currently working on a new poetry book and mentioned that she has already written 2 poems about book clubs in English in her collection! The reason behind this was that she adores the idea of these clubs, as well as respects readers.

She is also working on another novel about the aftereffects of the war in Việt Nam, mainly the mixed children and how their lives panned out. Statistics show that these children who have American fathers and Vietnamese mothers, 98% of them cannot find their parents. And those that do go to the USA and find their parents, they are told to go back home. The author narrates that she is planning on pushing herself to write this book, and challenging herself, as this book will narrate the negative side of Việt Nam.

When asked when her new releases would hit the shelves, Phan Quế Mai dejectedly smiled and declared that she was still in the process of editing it on her own. She mentions that she wants to be careful when writing, as she wants every word to be true and every emotion to be portrayed correctly. From the very beginning, it was clear that the author respects her readers very much, as she expressed so on many occasions throughout the live. She didn’t miss an opportunity to thank us as readers for reading her work and sharing it. This is why she mentions that for her, writing a novel takes time because she needs to constantly check and reassure herself that what she is writing is correct, as she wants her work to be perfect for her readers.

Listening to this author explain the backstory of her novel and seeing how passionate she grows when the topic is explained, makes me want to read her novel all the more. The fact that she respects readers on such a great level made me feel special and in turn respect her as an author. I have already ordered this novel, and I suggest you do too!

Blurb:

With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Nội, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Hồ Chí Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that tore apart not just her beloved country, but also her family. Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, The Mountains Sing brings to life the human costs of this conflict from the point of view of the Vietnamese people themselves, while showing us the true power of kindness and hope.