An unexpected love story (though not quite a romance) from what we, in the largely English-speaking Allied world might think of as ‘the other side’. We all do know, I hope, that there really aren’t ‘sides’—not really, not in humanity. Yet, sides are the illusion that propel this looming war in Vietnam—and the larger one raging everywhere else—drawing these beautifully tangible characters into spaces torn asunder, when their very essence should be unity, harmony, and love.

The translation is at times lyrical, and often graphic, reflecting the landscape and gathered conglomeration of humanity present in Vietnam during the WWII era.