Literature, more than any other art form, allows people an intimate vantage point from which to witness the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of individuals drastically different from themselves. Books thus hold the unparalleled power to inspire, foster empathy, and expand one’s understanding of the human condition.
Generational, racial, socio-economic, and political chasms can be reduced when one is granted access to a character's inner monologue and they “see” the world through different eyes. Strong female protagonists are essential as they allow men to better understand the challenges and strengths of all-too-often marginalized women, and present role models and comforting companionship for female readers.
In honor of Vietnamese Women’s Day, Saigoneer has selected five books written by Vietnamese authors that feature strong female protagonists. Each is a carefully crafted and entertaining work in its own right, but the brave and often-endearing women at their centers make compelling arguments for the value of female characters for readers from all backgrounds and demographics.
1. Pearls of the Far East | Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc
Photo via Tiki.
A young woman pretends to be the girlfriend of a soldier she knows to be dead while visiting his mother; a young woman seeks to re-establish her family’s successful fish sauce company as a way to connect with their legacy after they all flee the country; a young woman grows up in a roadside hourly hotel her mother runs while her teacher courts her; a young woman befriends a disabled boy who abruptly leaves only to reappear five years later: the scenarios presented in Pearls of the Far East force characters into difficult situations. Happenstances beyond their control, however, do not remove the their agency and their choices reveal the power women can have over their fates.
Adapted into a feature film staring Trương Ngọc Ánh and a young Ngô Thanh Vân, this collection of stories provides a mosaic of unique experiences highlighting the diverse trajectories lives follow. Often bittersweet, the endings eschew fairy-tale resolutions and invite readers to ruminate on unresolved questions. Far from escapism, the emotionally wrought narratives reflect the challenges of elevating beyond one’s material conditions.
2. An Insignificant Family | Dạ Ngân
Photo via Northwest University Press.
Compared to fighting a war, how difficult could love, motherhood and professional success be? An Insignificant Family by Dạ Ngân explores how women must cultivate self-reliance and fight for their personal happiness and the health and safety of their families.
After serving in the Southern Liberation Army, Tiệp, a fictionalized version of the author, is left with two children, a loveless marriage, uncertain prospects in a sexist profession and the abject poverty plaguing the nation. While her crafty ability to cobble together a livelihood with the scraps and tatters of a re-building nation is admirable, the most powerful moments of the novel come when she boldly pursues a relationship that society shuns, politics condemns and material conditions consistently thwart. The love story between her and a married writer from the north that plays out across the length of the nation via years of letters, train rides, and clandestine meetings, is a raw portrayal of the sacrifices one must make to maximize the circumstances life has handed them. If you want proof that happiness can be won via gritty determination, cunning independence and unceasing adherence to one’s internal compass, An Insignificant Family is for you.
Read Saigoneer’s profile of Dạ Ngân here
3. Chinatown | Thuận
Photo via Tilted Axis Press.
When we think of heroism, we typically imagine war or moments of extreme physical danger, but what about the heroics needed to endure the mundane? Thuận’s Chinatown investigates the resilience required to navigate the commonplace challenges of single motherhood, loneliness, migration, occupational drudgery and boredom.
In uncompromisingly repetitive prose, the unnamed narrator invites readers to experience her self-professed boring life filled with train rides to bureaucratic visa offices through shabby rural Parisian districts, bland sandwiches, cramped Hanoi apartments and petty office politics. By the time the novel circles back on itself, inching toward the very moment it began, readers will feel as if they have traveled a full route from 1980s Vietnam to present-day France with an individual who admits “I now knew enough to make people bored, and to understand that when people are bored they leave me alone.”
Chinatown is a testament to the resilience needed to simply make it through another hour, day, week, year, life. Far from grand or glamorous, the life offered might mirror that of the reader, or someone the reader knows, or perhaps a random stranger sitting nearby on public transportation. Regardless, it should cause one to look with a bit more sympathy and admiration at the small struggles women constantly face and overcome.
Read Saigoneer’s full review of Chinatown here
4. Green Papayas | Nhung N. Tran-Davies
Long stories don’t always require a lot of words. This picture book by Nhung N. Tran-Davies contains only a few sparse, evocative scenes and memories to bring its main character, Oma, to life as she lives out her final days in the hospital experiencing dementia. The narrator recounts her mother’s life for her own children, stressing how much Oma endured, including foregoing an education or food for the sake of a family she no longer remembers.
Photos via Amazon.
While the writing is simple and effective, the illustrations by Gillian Newland elevate the emotion contained in each description and scene, from shelter constructed in the wilderness to cramped post-war factories. Dedicated to her children in honor of their bà ngoại, Nhung’s powerful work takes on a metaphysical double meaning about the necessity of passing along stories while memories of them remain.
5. Dust Child | Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Photo via Goodreads.
One of the three braided narratives featured in best-selling author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s second novel Dust Child tells the story of Trang, a young woman from the countryside who moves to Saigon to work as a bargirl during the war with America. When she becomes pregnant with her American serviceman boyfriend’s child she must grapple with the choice of having a child not only during war, but also against the desire of her family and in defiance of societal norms.
In beautifully poetic descriptions and moments of earnest self-reflection, Trang lays bare the consequences and opportunities of choosing motherhood. In some ways a coming-of-age tale, Trang's journey articulates the excruciating tightrope women must often walk between independence and filial responsibility while balancing their own desires and the expectations society thrusts upon them. Paradoxically, Trang's tenderness and innocence guide her through the process of replacing what is lost in the process of becoming an adult. It shouldn’t surprise readers that in addition to Trang's story, women in the book act as catalysts for forgiveness, healing and growth for not just individuals but nations.
Read Saigoneer’s exploration of Dust Child’s locations with the author here
Bonus: Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers
Photo via Texas Tech University Press.
As a bonus entry, Saigoneer recommends Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers. This recently published collection of 22 stories by female authors traverses a wide range of topics, perspectives, and styles. The women at the center of the stories confront natural disasters, domestic abuse, disappointing love, war, patriarchy and dire economic conditions. Providing conflicting interpretations and philosophies about the world, the narrators combine to underscore how women constitute a diverse, non-homogeneous group that can hardly be reduced to a single day of celebration.
Read Saigoneer’s review of Longings here.
