THINGS WE LOST TO THE WATER

Narrator Quyen Ngo lends her powerful voice to this debut fiction on the refugee experience. Huong and her family escape to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1978, but her husband, Công, gets left behind. She tells her children that Công is dead, but when one of them finds out the truth years later, the betrayal creates distance between them. Narrating from multiple perspectives, Ngo fervently recounts the family members' inner struggles as they adjust to their new lives in New Orleans. Her portrayals of the characters are splendid, but her delivery of narrative sometimes fails to hold one's interest. Nonetheless, her performance adds an even stronger human element to the story. Listeners will be moved. A.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2021]