Author Talk: Christine Vo shares her memoir "My Vietnam, Your Vietnam" In-Person
Join the Los Alamos Public Library in welcoming author Christine Vo to share her story of family, heritage, and identity. "My Vietnam, Your Vietnam" is a dual memoir co-written with her father Nghia M. Vo where each shares their separate relationships with Vietnam.
In My Vietnam, Your Vietnam, Christina Vo and her father, Nghia M. Vo, weave their distinct journeys of identity and heritage, offering an intimate portrait of Vietnam across two generations and continents. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon this spring, this timely memoir bridges the past half-century with profound resonance.
When Nghia fled Saigon in April 1975 during the final U.S. withdrawal, he carried only the clothes on his back. After two months, he found himself in a refugee camp near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he began rebuilding his life and medical career while searching for his scattered family. Vietnam became too painful to discuss with his American-born daughter, Christina. Yet, as a young adult, Christina felt an inexplicable pull toward her heritage, ultimately leading her to Hanoi—a Vietnam transformed since wartime but still echoing with the ancient rhythms she recognized in her father.
Through alternating perspectives and lyrical prose, My Vietnam, Your Vietnam presents a nuanced exploration of a country that has profoundly shaped both father and daughter. Their intertwined narratives reveal how the shadow of war and the light of cultural inheritance ripple through generations, creating a memoir that speaks to the complexity of identity, the weight of silence, and the journey toward understanding across time and distance.