A Bend in the River

By: Libby Fischer Hellmann

Narrated by: Robin Rowan

In 1968 two young Vietnamese sisters flee to Saigon after their village on the Mekong River is attacked by American forces and burned to the ground. The only survivors of the brutal massacre that killed their family, the sisters struggle to survive but become estranged, separated by sharply different choices and ideologies. Mai ekes out a living as a GI bar girl, but Tam’s anger festers, and she heads into jungle terrain to fight with the Viet Cong. For nearly 10 years, neither sister knows if the other is alive. Do they both survive the war? And if they do, can they mend their fractured relationship? Or are the wounds from their journeys too deep to heal? In a stunning departure from her crime thrillers, Libby Fischer Hellmann delves into a universal story about survival, family, and the consequences of war.

©2020 Libby Fischer Hellmann (P)2020 Libby FIscher Hellmann

A Must!

This is absolutely wonderful! I couldn't stop listening! An excellent story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

A Side Many Of Us Never Think Of

This is a very good book indeed. I found listening to it right now was very timely when considering much the same in Afghanistan right now.

In this case it was American troops who destroyed their village and left the two girls orphan. In modern warfare we drop missiles from drones on targets. In either case you have shattered families who might have known hardly anything about the outside world who suddenly need to figure how to survive on their own. These two girls take different paths, but they each did find lives to live…Until the end to the war happened. After that they both worried about surviving once the Vietcong took over. Both fled to America.

I was close to getting drafted (I was going to enlist instead), but they dropped the draft before my low number put me in. So I never did go, but I’ve always been interested in stories about the war. This was the first story from the other side. It was a totally different perspective. I really learned a lot from this book.

Get the audio!

I don't remember why I got this book, but I'm glad I did. I was born in the Midwest in the mid-50s and so was aware of this war growing up, seeing the pictures in Life and Look magazines and on TV - the first televised war. When my boyfriend and I graduated from high school as America withdrew it's troops, his draft number had thankfully still not come up. So, I knew some of the somewhat confusing history along with peace protests, etc. We were glad to leave it behind and enjoy the 70s.

This story was not the most complicated story, but it was excellent in illustrating the land, the people, how terrible it was for everyone.. It didn't flinch (fairly truthfully, I think) in describing all sides, the desire to fight for a cause, the disappointment in realizing the cause is flawed, and how to survive all of this in the most difficult conditions, not being able to trust anyone.

The narrator was fantastic. I'm rying to learn basic Mandarin by listening to a CD, and it's important to vocalize the tones correctly for each word. This recording was SO interesting to listen to to hear Vietnamese words spoken with their tones (there are some similarities in tones to Chinese). This alone made the story so much more interesting than if it had been spoken English. I appreciate mixing in the language and then actually hearing it spoken.

Altogether, this audiobook gave me much more in-depth descriptions and insight with a pretty good story. Thank you.

A bend in the river review by Mark jutti

One of the finest novels I have read so far. Set amidst the backdrop of a long drawn war in Vietnam, this story compares and contrasts the pros and cons of communism versus capitalism ... idealism versus opportunism ... the horrific effects of war and it's consequences on the day to day lives of people ... very touching ... the descriptions are vivid and succinct ... the flow of the story over a period of 10 years is very smooth and natural ... the narrator has even taken efforts to mimic some words in Vietnamese which is pretty cool ... overall it is an engaging novel that will keep the reader hooked