Kien Nguyen – författare

When Saigon fell to the Viet Cong in April, 1975, Kien Nguyen was there. He watched the last US Army helicopter leave without him, without his brother, his mother or his grandparents. More at risk than most in the decimated country, with his odd blond hair and light eyes, he was the most "unwanted" - an American. This is a memoir by an Amerasian who stayed behind in Vietnam and is now living in America. Told with stark and poetic honesty, it is a story of survival, a story of hope, and a moving, personal record of this tumultuous time in history.

A "richly satisfying" epic of Asian history in the tradition of James Clavell (Newsday), from the bestselling author of The Tapestries.

Based loosely on the life of the author's grandfather, a professional embroiderer in the court of the last king of Vietnam in the early 1900s, Kien Nguyen has reimagined his grandfather's amazing story to weave a tapestry of his own: this stunning and page-turning novel. Dan Nguyen is seven years old when he witnesses his father brutally beheaded by the mayor in a bid for power. Dan's wife, Ven, 20 years his senior, makes him promise to one day avenge his father's death. In order to protect him until he is old enough to defend his family's honor, Ven hides Dan as a servant in the house of the enemy -- and Dan falls in love with the one person he can never have, the mayor's beautiful granddaughter Tai May. Dan's journey from slavery into scandal, and finally to the royal court where he has the chance to win Tai May's heart, is a story of spellbinding drama and intrigue, and, ultimately, the story of a great love affair.