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“A courageous and bold achievement by a bright new voice.” Ocean Vuong
A young woman, torn between two cultures, belonging to neither. A family, torn apart by a war they had no choice about.
Kiều calls herself Kim because it’s easier for Europeans to pronounce. She knows little about her Vietnamese family’s history until she receives a Facebook message from her estranged uncle in America, telling her that her grandmother is dying. Her father and uncle haven’t spoken since the end of the Vietnam War. One brother supported the Viet Cong, while the other sided with the Americans.
When Kiều and her parents travel to America to join the rest of the family in California for the funeral, questions relating to their past—to what has been suppressed—resurface and demand to be addressed.
“A groundbreaking work in German literature, Pham’s novel marks a seminal accomplishment that tells the dignified, thorough, and epic story of a Vietnamese family through clear, gem-like sentences and unflinching observations. With Pham’s vision, nothing is left unturned and all things are salvaged and lost at once. A courageous and bold achievement by a bright new voice.”
—Ocean Vuong
“Illuminating and unforgettable, Khuê Phạm’s Brothers and Ghosts is a house that reveals secrets behind each door: a country torn apart by colonialism and civil war, a family divided between loyalty and freedom.”
— Juhea Kim, author Beasts of a Little Land
“A powerful novel about the paths we take, the secrets we hide, and the familial duty that binds us. Khuê Phạm coaxes out the stories that live in darkness and the light she shines is captivating. Gorgeously written, Brothers and Ghosts is a book that stays with you long after you close it.”
— Eric Nguyen, author of Things We Lost to the Water
“Intriguing, immediate, and occasionally harrowing, Brothers and Ghosts by Khuê Phạm is a moving tale of exile, identity, and self-discovery. Focussing on first and second-generation Vietnamese emigrants, the novel should appeal to fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.”
—New Books in German
“Brothers and Ghosts examines the experience of one southern Vietnamese family during the Vietnam War, and its long aftermath … Inspired by her own family, journalist Khuê Phạm tells a wrenching story of family, war, and memory.”
—Booklist
“Brothers and Ghosts by Khuê Phạm belongs to a new wave of German literature that shows how culturally diverse the country has become since the late 1960s … Phạm’s debut novel reverberates in clear, dispassionate prose that belies its complex subject matter.”
—NPR