I'm so grateful to @librofm and @algonquinbooks for the chance to listen to the beautifully produced audiobook of The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai - definitely one of the highlights of my year and it will certainly be hard to beat the audiobook experience!

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It's set across the 20th century in Vietnam, following matriarch Trần Diệu Lan and her family, particularly her granddaughter Hương. Their family suffers through a great deal, including the Japanese takeover during World War Two, the land reform, the famine, and of course the Vietnam War. Quế Mai doesn't hold back from describing the horrors of war for Vietnamese soldiers and families, as this book is her response to the one-sided version of the Vietnam War taught in American schools. It was a history lesson for me too, as I didn't even cover the subject at all in school.

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But although a lot of tragedy befalls the family, Quế Mai doesn't paint a solely devastating picture. She depicts the love and hope and resilience of the Trần family too. I was a HUGE fan of the grandmother, a woman who loved her children and grandchildren so much that she was driven to extreme measures to try and save them. I also very much enjoyed learning more about Vietnamese proverbs, which are littered throughout the book, which leads me to the narrator of the audiobook, Quyen Ngo.

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I was moved to tears several times, surely partly down to the beautifully wrought sentences by Quế Mai (you can tell she is a celebrated poet!) but especially because of the emotional delivery by Quyen Ngo. Her voice acting is impeccable, cycling through sorrow, grief, joy, and humour. I LOVED being able to hear the Vietnamese phrases and names and cultural references out loud, it made for such an immersive experience. I understand that there are a lot of time jumps, so some of you might feel more comfortable reading the physical copy, but if you're used to audio then I HIGHLY recommend this one!