Every year, the living and the dead in Vietnam eagerly await the return of Tet, a mobile feast corresponding to the new moon and placed halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The novel’s central character, Tran Van Minh, moves through a decade of international politics spanning three continents, in tragic isolation from his country, his family, friends and hsi American lover. Resigning his diplomatic post in protest of Ngo Dinh Diem’s anti-Buddhist policies, Minh remains in the U.S. to teach and work in the anti-war movement. At the urging of his family and because of his father’s failing health, Minh returns to Vietnam, leaving his beloved Jennifer, who encourages his return as necessary for his emotional, spiritual, and creative survival. But the Vietnam of Minh’s memory, the joy of the Tets of his childhood elude him as he is submerged by the war that is meticulously destroying his homeland.
About the Author
Trần Văn Dĩnh (1923-2011) a native of Vietnam, served in the Vietnamese diplomatic corps in Thailand, Burma and Washington D.C. A professor of international politics and communications, he taught at Temple University, where he chaired the Department of Pan-African Studies for several years. Tran Van Dinh published two novels and several books on Vietnamese history, international Buddhism, communications and Third World independence movements. He contributed hundreds of articles to professional publications as well as to The New York Times, The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, and other journals.