Twilight Territory, Andrew X. Pham
Twilight Territory, Andrew X. Pham
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Twilight Territory
A Novel

Author: Andrew X. Pham

Narrator: David Lee Huynh

Unabridged: 12 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/12/2024


Synopsis

The peak of the hot season, 1942: The wars in Europe and Asia and the Japanese occupation have upset the uneasy balance of French Indochina. In the Vietnamese fishing village of Phan Thiet, Tuyet ekes out a living at a small storefront with her aunt Coi, her cousin Ha, and her two-year-old daughter, Anh. She can hardly remember her luxurious life in the city of Saigon, which she left just two years ago.

The day Tuyet meets Japanese major Yamazaki Takeshi is inauspicious and stifling, with no relief from the sand-stirring wind. But to her surprise, she feels not fear or wariness, but a strange kinship. Tuyet is guarded, knowing how the townspeople might whisper, yet is drawn to Takeshi's warmth all the same. A wounded veteran with a good heart, Takeshi grows to resent the Empire for what it has taken—and the promises it has failed to keep. As the Viet Minh begin to battle the French and Takeshi risks his life for the Resistance, Tuyet and her family are drawn into the conflict, with devastating consequences.

A lushly panoramic novel, by turns gritty and profoundly moving, Twilight Territory is at once a war story and a love story that offers a fascinating perspective on Vietnam's struggles to break free of its French colonial past. At its heart is one woman's struggle for independence and her country's liberation.

About Andrew X. Pham

Andrew X. Pham is a journalist and author who has been a Guggenheim Fellow, winner of the Whiting Writers' Award and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, and a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He lives in Bangkok and California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Karren on November 14, 2023

In a small Vietnamese fishing village in French Indochina, Tuyet and her aunt Coi, cousin Ha and daughter Anh all live together and her aunt runs a small shop. Tuyet is a divorced single mother, she meets Japanese major Yamazaki Takeshi, Tuyet is cautious around soldiers and she’s surprise to discov......more

Goodreads review by Robin on July 19, 2024

I can’t understand how this was picked for the Big Library Read. There is little character development, there really is very little history covered, the violence is unending and very graphic, the writing is stiff, all the details seem to be unnecessary and not key to the characters or plot line, and......more

Goodreads review by Panda on August 04, 2024

Original pre-review Note: For those of you who use the Libby app Borrow Twilight Territory to join Big Library Read, the global book club. Big Library Read connects readers around the world with the same book at the same time. This title will be available with no waitlists or holds as an ebook or aud......more

Goodreads review by Christy on January 22, 2024

'It is natural; for the weak to fear the strong'. As the years of WW2 continued to ravage Europe, in 1942 the theatre of the Pacific was just getting started. Vietnam had already contended with French colonialism and now the Japanese were making their presence felt. No one knew who to side with - or......more

Goodreads review by Kristin on July 15, 2024

4.5 stars ⭐️ Got this book as part of the “Big Library Read”. Warning for graphic descriptions of animal violence, torture, and sexual assault, including minors. There is something beautifully direct about the writing style (minus some fat-shaming on the part of the narrator); it’s observational, wit......more