Thao Thai

Newly pregnant Ann Tran is dissatisfied with being the odd woman out in her boyfriend's family of white upperclass intellectuals. When she discovers that her beloved grandmother, Vietnamese immigrant Minh, has died, she leaves her boyfriend and returns to her childhood home, a large rambling house in a Florida swamp. There she tries to work through her grief, her uncertainty about her pregnancy, and a tentative reconciliation with her single mother, Huong.

I was drawn to this book by the show more exploration of Vietnamese characters and its descriptions of Florida's natural landscape, and both were very well done. Minh's story of how she made a life for herself in Vietnam, and how she made a life for them in the United States after they immigrated, was interesting and well-written. Ann's story, which takes up the majority of the book, was somewhat less compelling and was slow at times. I liked that Ann was rationally able to confront the less pleasant aspects of her grandmother's character and accept both her positive and negative effects on her life. Her indecision about her life with Noah, her boyfriend, did get a bit repetitive after a while. I also wished for more details about the house, but I'm a devotee of reading about real estate so that may just be my thing.

Overall I enjoyed the story -- up until a plot twist out of left field in the last part of the book upended everything and sent the plot into unrealistically melodramatic territory. This was a quiet book about people facing believable problems, it just wasn't realistic for this to have happened, especially since it seemed to have no negative effect on anyone involved whatsoever. The author is talented, and I hope in her next book she resists the impulse to insert unnecessary drama like that. show less

Banyan Moon is a family saga about 3 generations of Vietnamese women. The story alternates between grandmother Minh in Vietnam, her daughter Huong in Florida and granddaughter Ann in Michigan. It begins with Ann Tran receiving a call from her mother informing her that her beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away. In the years since she’s last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life in Michigan. She lives with her rich and white college professor boyfriend Noah Winthorpe in a show more lake house and is invited to many elegant parties due to her relationship with him. After she gets a positive result on a pregnancy test Ann feels her life coming apart. Her discomfort with her current life gives her a sense that it was not the life she would have chosen on her own. With both her relationship and carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother Huơng.

Back in Florida Huơng is simultaneously mourning her mother and resenting her for having the relationship with Ann that she never had. When Minh's will is read Ann and Huơng learn that Minh has left them both the Banyan House, the crumbling old manor that was Ann’s childhood home, in all its strange, gothic glory. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter address the simmering questions of their past and their uncertain futures, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who’s always held them together. Running parallel to this is Minh’s story, as she goes from a lovestruck teenager living in the shadow of the "American War" to a determined young mother immigrating to America in search of a better life for her children. While Huong and Ann go through Minh's belongings in the Banyan House, Ann makes a shocking discovery that sheds light on Minh's long-buried secrets from her life in Vietnam. The secrets affected the upbringing of both Huong and Ann.

This beautiful story spans several decades, from 1960s Vietnam to the swamplands of Florida. It is tinged with sadness and this sadness felt overwhelming in the first couple of chapters. Around chapter three I understood how this story was being told and became fully engaged. While the story has some sadness it is also shows alot of love between these three women. All of them are single moms so there is a shared experience between them. Both Huong and Ann struggled with the family expectation to be something that they were not. This commonality ultimately brought them together. The immigration process is also shown here. It's not just how Minh made it to the U. S. but how Huong handled being a first generation American and how her perceptions affected Ann's upbringing.

Family sagas are one of my favorite type of books and this novel is a wonderful example of that. It is hard to believe that this well written story is a debut novel. Thao Thai gave us a poignant portrait of the Vietnamese experience both in Vietnam and in the U. S. show less

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai observes a now common format of rotating chapters voiced by different characters — in this iteration three generations of women from a Vietnamese family. Minh’s story begins in Vietnam during the war and follows her to America with her children, Hu’o’ng and Phuroc. Hu’o’ng’s chapters reflect her struggle to connect with her own daughter Ann, both in the past and present. Ann finds herself back in Florida with her mother after fleeing her current life show more and trying to decide what comes next for her. Banyan Moon is an excellent multi-generational story focused on women, motherhood, and the complicated relationships that families often find themselves in. show less

I often find myself drawn to multi-generational family stories. “Banyan Moon” immediately drew me right into the lives of three generations of Vietnamese women – Minh, the grandmother; Huong, the daughter; and Ann, the granddaughter.

The story opens with the death of Minh. Ann, born in the US and living in California, returns to her crumbling childhood home in Florida, a home with an old banyan tree growing at its side. Ann now must reconnect with her estranged mother. Unknown to her show more mother, Ann’s seemingly perfect life in California is in question after she discovers she is pregnant.

Minh’s narratives are set in Vietnam and follow her life as a teenager during the Vietnam War and follow her as she flees to the US in search of a better life for her children. The love between Minh and Ann was beautiful, and my heart warmed at their interactions.

“Banyan Moon” is an emotional character-driven story. The story is told from alternating perspectives of the three strong-willed women. It runs the gamut of emotions with its tale of losses, regrets, secrets, heartbreak, and, ultimately, love.

The best part of the story for me was how Ann and Huong had to re-examine their past together and realize how much they do love each other.

Thai uses beautiful imagery throughout the book, especially involving the banyan tree.

If you are a fan of Nguyen Phan Que Mai, I recommend you give this book a try. show less