Straining Forward
Minh Phuong Towner's Story

I won this book in a goodreads drawing. A Vietnamese woman tells about her childhood, and how she survived the war, moved to Australia, then America, and found Christ. Informative, and harrowing in places. Not afraid to show warts and all.......more

This book is absolutely impossible to put down. Since I was stationed in Vietnam, I had heard about the Tet offensive in 1968, even though I was there in 71-72. It was very hard reading the account of someone who was living through the event as it was actually occurring. I actually speak a little Vi......more

A beautiful and heart wrenching story of a young family caught in the throes of a terrible war. Having grown up in the Vietnam War era I remember the pictures and stories from the soldiers coming home from their tours of duty. I have never, however, heard the stories of the children who did not get......more

Straining Forward... touches and grips the reader’s intellect, gut, and soul. From the story’s beginning in 1964 Vietnam through intermittent years and into the 21st century, the reader enters the heart of a survivor. Once started, I could not put the book down. Michelle Rahal’s writing style compel......more

Reviewed For Readers' Favorite by Grant Leishman Author Michelle Layer Rahal has brought us a stunningly honest and frank portrayal of the life of a Vietnamese boat person, in the 1970’s. In Straining Forward we read the biography of Minh Phuong Towner, as she is caught up in the tumultuous events o......more