Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.
Banyan Moon opens as Minh's granddaughter, Ann Tran, attends a party with her longterm boyfriend at the home of his wealthy white parents. Soon the story shifts to Florida and the Banyan House, where Ann spent her childhood with her mother, Huong, and grandmother. Chapters alternate between Ann, Huong, and Mihn's perspectives.
Thao Thai's writing is beautiful and the book pulled me in right away... it kept me turning the pages, too. I was expecting historical fiction and thought I'd learn more about life in Vietnam. While there is enough historical detail for the reader to understand the older generations, I would definitely classify the novel as a family drama rather than historical fiction.
Shortly after I began reading, my audiobook hold arrived and it became a read/listen combination. The audio version was excellent! I love multi-narrator productions and this one certainly enhanced my overall reading experience.
MMD hosts a virtual author talk for each selection. It's always interesting to hear the author speak, but yesterday's chat with Thao Thai was especially memorable. It added to my understanding and appreciation of Banyan Moon. I'm already looking forward to her next novel.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
This sounds good and your review convinced me to add it to my already way too long list.
ReplyDeleteVicki - I know what you mean about way-too-long reading lists, lol. This is a good one though.
DeleteSounds good, JoAnn, and it sounds like audiobook is the best way to go on this one. I really like to listen to multiple-narrator books when that's an option because it helps me keep the narrators separate in my mind.
ReplyDeleteSam - Multi-narrator audio productions are the best! Books like this, structured with alternating perspectives, lend themselves to it perfectly. Glad I Had the opportunity to listen, too.
DeleteI may need to check out Mrs. Darcy's book club, you've gotten some great recommendations. My Goodreads list has grown from some of the books you have mentioned. At least this heat has me inside and reading quite a bit :-) Today's heat index according to Weather Underground is 115 F !!!
ReplyDeleteTina - I joined MMD at the beginning of summer. They've read 2 books/month in the big group with zoom author chats. I've participated in No Two Persons, The Postcard, and Banyan Moon. There are also Community Reads going on all the time and I read Lonesome Dove with a small group there. In addition, there are online forums with discussions and other fun activities... so far, well worth it for me! 115 heat index is just crazy... glad you have some good books to enjoy indoors with the AC.
DeleteThis has been on my TBR for ages. Will get to it soon! Great review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Harvee. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
DeleteThis sounds like one I would like, thank you for the review!
ReplyDeleteHelen - It's an impressive debut!
DeleteI like the sounds of this one, especially on audio. Is it reminiscent of Amy Tan's early novels? The mother-daughter dynamic made me think it might be.
ReplyDeleteLes - Yes, the three narrators added a lot. This would be a good choice on audio. I'm not sure where I got the idea that it was historical fiction set primarily in Vietnam, but once I realized that was not the case, it was easier to settle in and enjoy. Amy Tan is a good comp... maybe Kitchen God's Wife's era. Confession time - I've never read The Joy Luck Club...though I've been meaning to for decades!
DeleteThis is a book I would love to read as I haven't read a lot of novels set in Vietnam and of course love stories focusing on mother/daughter relationships.
ReplyDeleteIliana - Only a small portion of this book takes place in Vietnam, but the mother/daughter relationships were well done. I especially enjoyed the writing and the audio's multiple narrators.
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