The Mountains Sing(104)
A light radiated from Grandma’s eyes. Even her wrinkles were soft. There was no longer sorrow on her face. She looked peaceful and calm; as peaceful and calm as Buddha.
I stood up. I drew Grandma to her feet. I hugged her.
My Grandmother’s Songs
Ngh? An, 2017
I place the S?n ca in front of Grandma’s grave. The children kneel down next to me. Tam strikes a match, igniting a bundle of incense. He turns and beams at me.
“I know Grandma is proud of you. I am too, my love,” he says as the smoldering incense wraps us with its fragrance.
“You helped make this possible, Tam.” I hold out a stack of paper, thick and sturdy. It is my family’s story, told by Grandma and me.
“Can Great-Grandma read this in Heaven?” asks our son Quang, his hands patting the cover.
“When we burn it, the smoke will send it to her,” our daughter Thanh says. She believes it because she loved to listen to Grandma as much as I did.
I raise the copy of my manuscript above my head. Grandma once told me that the challenges faced by the Vietnamese people throughout history are as tall as the tallest mountain. I have stood far enough away to see the mountaintop, yet close enough to witness how Grandma became the tallest mountain herself: always there, always strong, always protecting us.
I close my eyes. Grandma’s gentle face appears before me. I’m glad you wrote down what we went through, Guava. I can’t wait to read it.
“I miss you, Grandma.”
Fire flares up in Tam’s hands. Our children help feed the pages to the flames.
Wisps of smoke curl upward. And in the twirling ash, I see the S?n ca moving. It is flapping its wings, craning its neck, calling my grandma’s songs toward Heaven.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Mountains Sing is inspired by the experiences of my own family and those around me. I am grateful to my parents, my relatives, and many other Vietnamese who have shared with me their personal stories and continue to inspire me with their courage and compassion.
I am indebted to my teacher—th?y Tr??ng V?n ánh—from whom I first learned English in eighth grade. I didn’t know that one day, it would be English, not my Vietnamese mother tongue, that would give me a voice when it comes to historical fiction. My husband, Hans Farnhammer, believes in me and encouraged me to quit my salary-earning job to become a writer. Peter Conners, BOA Editions, and the Lannan Foundation paved the way for my international career with the publication of my poetry book The Secret of Hoa Sen, which I translated from Vietnamese, together with the poet and professor Bruce Weigl. A scholarship from Lancaster University’s M.A. in Creative Writing program granted me the chance to research and write this novel. I am grateful for the guidance of my mentor Sara Maitland and the feedback from other writers at Lancaster, especially Philip Caveney, Zoe Lambert, Graham Mort, Anne O’Brien, Laura Morgan, Michelle Scowcroft, Mary Chism, Joe Lavelle, and Suzanne Conboy-Hill. Insights from the war veterans ?inh V?n Tùng, Nguy?n V?n B?o, Tr?n Minh Quang, Bruce Weigl, John Havan, Wayne Karlin, and Tracy French have been invaluable.
Master John Havan, who was himself a novelist, taught me Kick-Poke-Chop self-defense. He had invented this technique for surviving real-life attacks. Helle Kafka journeyed with me from the start of this novel. Beth Phillips expanded my reading horizons by giving me a job at the library of the American International School Dhaka, Bangladesh. Special thanks to Mr. C??ng Nguy?n and Mrs. Th?o ??, for the inspirations they provided me. The talented and generous novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen gave me much-needed encouragement and introduced me to my wonderful agent Julie Stevenson, who heard The Mountains Sing despite the distance of many oceans between us. My sister-in-writing, Thanhhà L?i, worked with me over late nights and early mornings translating Vietnamese proverbs. Paul Christiansen and Dr. Eric Henry gave input to my translations of complicated Vietnamese words and phrases.
I am incredibly lucky that The Mountains Sing finds its home at Algonquin Books. My editor, Betsy Gleick, is brilliant, warm, and very supportive. It has been my honor to work with her, as well as with the many other capable and caring people at Algonquin, including Brunson Hoole, Michael McKenzie, Anne Winslow, Randall Lotowycz, Elisabeth Scharlatt, Stephanie Mendoza, Debra Linn, Lauren Moseley, and Kendra Poster. This novel also benefited from the keen and careful reading eyes of Chúc M? Tu? (Teresa Mei Chuc), Eva Maaten, Abby Muller, and Chris Stamey.
I am grateful to organizations and individuals who lent me strength when I needed it most, especially the Australia Awards scholarship program, the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN), the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Rick Simonson, ch? Tuy?t Nga, and the amazing writers who read and provided such heartfelt blurbs for my novel.
To my children, Clara Qu? Mai and Nguy?n Minh Johann: Thank you for being my light during the years I wrote The Mountains Sing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born into the Viet Nam War in 1973, Nguy?n Phan Qu? Mai grew up witnessing the war’s devastation and its aftermath. She worked as a street seller and rice farmer before winning a scholarship to attend university in Australia. She is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction published in Vietnamese, and her writing has been translated and published in more than ten countries, most recently in Norton’s Inheriting the War anthology. She has been honored with many awards, including the Poetry of the Year 2010 Award from the Ha Noi Writers Association, as well as many grants and fellowships. Married to a European diplomat, Que Mai is currently living in Jakarta with her two teenage children. For more information about Nguy?n Phan Qu? Mai, visit her at www.nguyenphanquemai.com.