The Mountains Sing

Set against the backdrop of the Viêt Nam War, The Mountains Sing is the enveloping, multi-generational tale of the Tran family, perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee's Pachinko or Vaddey Ratner's In the Shadow of the Banyan.

Hà Noi, 1972. Huong and her grandmother, Tran Dieu Lan, cling to one another in their improvised shelter as American bombs fall around them. Her father and mother have already left to fight in a war that is tearing not just her country but her family apart. For Tran Dieu Lan, forced to flee the family farm with her six children decades earlier as the Communist government rose to power in the North, this experience is horribly familiar. Seen through the eyes of these two unforgettable women, The Mountains Sing captures their defiance and determination, hope and unexpected joy.

Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Viêt Nam, celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyen's richly lyrical debut weaves between the lives of grandmother and granddaughter to paint a unique picture of the country's turbulent twentieth-century history. This is the story of a people pushed to breaking point, and a family who refuse to give in.

About the Author

Dr Nguyen Phan Que Mai is an award-winning writer in both Vietnamese and English. Her eight books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction in Vietnamese have received the 2010 Poetry of the Year Award from the Hanoi Writers Association, the Capital's Literature & Arts Award, and First Prize in the Poetry Competition celebrating 1,000 Years of Hanoi.

Her debut novel and first book in English, The Mountains Sing, is an International Bestseller, a New York Times Editors' Choice Selection, Winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, Winner of the Blogger's Book Prize 2021, and Winner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for "a work of exceptional quality" and for "contribution to peace and reconciliation". The novel has been named a best book of 2020 by more than 10 media establishments including NPR and the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Que Mai has a PhD in Creative Writing from the UK's Lancaster University. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times, BBC Vietnamese, Lit Hub and Poets & Writers Magazine , among others. She has just been named by Forbes Vietnam as one of 20 inspiring women of 2021.