The Trader of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks

The Trader of Saigon Reviews

• 
  Aditi

  Saigon was an addicted city, and we were the drug: the corruption of children, the mutilation of young men, the prostitution of women, the humiliation of the old, the division of the family, the division of the country--it had all been done in our name. . . . The French city . . . had represented the opium stage of the addiction. With the Americans had begun the heroin phase.
  ----James Martin Fenton FRSL FRSA an English poet, journalist and literary critic
  
  
  Lucy Cruickshanks, an English author, enthralled us with her debut novel, The Trader of Saigon set across the exotic yet victimized land of Vietnam. This is a story of three lives entwined together by a unfortunate knot, untwisting which might leave them paralyzed for the rest of their lives.
  
  
  Synopsis:
  As a US Army deserter, Alexander is a man without country; stuck in a life he no longer controls and embroiled in the dark business of trading women. His latest victim is Hanh, a poor rural girl living in Hanoi who dreams of escaping the inevitability of an impoverished future and for whom Alexander’s arrival seems like the answer to a prayer. Neither of them has ever met Phuc - a Vietnamese businessman who backed the wrong side in the war and is now unable to pay his financial and political debts to the Party. But his struggles are about to change both their lives.
  
  
  Alexander is an ex-US Army deserter, stuck in his new home away from his own, with his alter ego, trading women as brides for their better future. Hanh, a 15-year old Vietnamese girl, is a squat girl trying to feed both her mother as well as hers own empty stomachs with her minimal wage. Phuc, a Vietnamese fisherman is trying hard to keep his family afloat in the mane of food, money, status in their society, in the same time trying his level best to keep his name away from all political puddles. However, these three lives come and crash together, resulting in devastating after-effects, thus leaving us with a heart touching as well as an engaging story.
  
  For a first time author, Lucy's prose is splendid and she wrote the whole story with great vividness. Even her narrative style is simple and crisp, thus making it an easy ride for us. Some might think the plot as very simple, and yes indeed, it is, there is not much twist or any thought-provoking events, but the way she created the whole plot with her eloquent words completely captured my mind.
  
  Her characterization is quite strong, and every character reflected themselves in this story with their inner depth thus making a lasting impression upon our minds. The author even portrayed the supporting characters like Hanh's mother, uncle, best-friend-cum-sister, Alexander's boss and Phuc's family members, quite brilliantly. Hanh and Alexander's budding relationship depicted in the story was very promising and Lucy portrayed it with passion and mystery that will leave you feeling like you are just holding in your breath for something big to happen between them.
  
  The setting and the time-period that the author captured was very alive and vivid. The imagery that the author used in her tale is visual. The picture of Hanoi in Saigon is bright yet darkness lurked in the hidden alleys of the town. The wretched and destructed situation of post-Civil war period in Vietnam is quite arresting. The author intricately laid out the descriptions about Hanh's misery and Alexander's painful past and present, quite remarkable, thus leaving us spellbound with the emotional torments. The author took us back in the moment when US Army troops ruled the poor, dingy streets of Saigon, thus obstructing the natural beauty of Vietnam. While reading this book, I teleported myself back in that era and watched the whole story being unfolded right in front of my eyes.
  
  Moreover, Vietnam is such an unexplored land in the terms of stories and novels, especially the period when America lost their shame and name in the Vietnam War, so thanks to the author for letting us see the real picture of Vietnam, when hunger, trafficking and murder were the sole medium of sustenance.
  
  Verdict: An engrossing debut literary novel which you can't miss!
  
  Courtesy: Many, many thanks to the author, Lucy Cruickshanks, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her debut novel.
• 
  Jaideep Khanduja

  
  http://pebbleinthestillwaters.blogspo...
  
  Book Review: The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks: Play Innocence To Pay Innocence
  
  About the Book & Story:
  
  The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks is a marvelously crafted fiction story that is not far from the reality of the world. Alexander is a trader - flesh trader - human flesh trader - live human flesh. His trades women and girls, rather girls, amateur, teenagers, economically poor girls living in insecurity but starving for support, faith and trust as most of the time it is harassment that they have to face. Alexander used to ditch such kind of targets, softly starting by grabbing their attention, stealing their trust and then selling them off in the market.at lucrative prices.
  
  The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks is written in the background of Saigon town of Vietnam, the most happening place of the country. Alexander bunked from his army life and got hooked to young girls trafficking as a part of trading chain of Herder. Cheung Hu is the most powerful Chinese living in Saigon and running his own mafia in many of the illegal and illicit trades. He has many inside powerful political connections.
  
  Hanh is an innocent girl living with her widowed severely ill mother. She is a small time worker to earn ration for the two. The story is about the journey of Hanh's getting targeted by Alexander for trafficking.
  
  Phuc is another time struck character who was a rich businessman but has been zeroed down to poverty due to all his money and property grabbed by the government.
  
  You can find more about Lucy Cruickshanks in an interview on my blog here.
  
  My Views:
  
  The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks is a marvelously crafted fiction story that is not far from the reality of the world. Every country has a place Saigon in one form or the other, with illegal trading mafia that is mingled with dirty politics and helpless administration. Where there is no system in place. And even if there is a system in place, there is crime in much smarter manner to overshadow it. The level of smartness in crime Every country has Alexander, Hanh, Phuc, Herder and Cheung Hu - in multiples and in various religion, nationalities and gravity of crime or innocence in them. Where Hanh is young and innocent, living in poverty but much close to nature and life, there are criminals like Alexander, Phuc, Herder and Cheung Hu. Even if this trading does not happen in much advanced countries, there are buyers ready to pay big amount of money for Asian women. In a nutshell there are wolves in the cover of sheep in every place, becoming part of this trafficking ecosystem, whether in the form of a trader chain, buyer chain or the innocent victims.
  
  As we move along the story of The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks, there is an automatic emotional connect that gets established with the innocent girl Hanh, 15. The dirty terms used in these kind of trading are powerful enough to bring shame to any person living with dignity and respect. Lucy Cruickshanks has rightly dedicated this book to Scott with whom she met during a flight in a plane, in 2007, and got to know that the guy was a proud businessman engaged in women and girls trafficking in the name of matchmaking. So there is an America Soldier turned women trafficker - Alexander, a Chinese mafia king - Cheung Hu, a Russian pimp - Herder and locales - Phuc and Hanh - around whom the whole of the story revolves.
  
  The fiction is not too far from the realities of the world elaborating its cruelties and tortures faced by innocent people like Phuc and Hanh. The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks is her debut novel published in 2013.
  
  The cover of The Trader Of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks is fitting well with the theme of story.with a young girl (perhaps Hanh) in Vietnamese dress is sitting in the backdrop of Vietnam local environment. The time projected in the story is somewhere around 1980s.
  
  This is a life turner story - for Phuc, for Hanh and for Alexander, so powerfully driven that binds you along for the whole journey. What in Hanh struck Alexander? Is there a development that is happening in his mind and heart in the shape of a transformation although he keeps sticking to his plans throughout, or is something struck at the final juncture...
  
  The book was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and the Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, longlisted for the Waverton Goodread Award, and was a Top Ten Book of 2013 at The Bookbag.
  
  Thanks Lucy for sending signed copy of this fabulous book. Really enjoyed every word of it. Wish every Alexander becomes a savior from a predator, as in this book.
• 
  Todd Wittenmyer

  This was a 4.5 star read for me! Lucy has a beautiful writing style! I love her descriptions and the way the story flows! I don't do spoilers, but I will give you a brief rundown of this one. A man gets into trouble with some dangerous folks. His daughter's life hangs in the balance and he must find a solution. Also, there is human trafficking involved. Along with all the players involved in that particular trade. I enjoyed this one! Nicely done Lucy!
• 
  Anna

  I enjoyed this book enormously and by the time I was about three quarters of the way through I just had to sit and read the rest of it in one sitting. The author tells the story of each of the characters separately but as the book progresses the three come together to make this compelling reading.
  
  See my full review at:
  http://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogspo...
• 
  Danial Tanvir

  i bought this book from a book shop in bangkok,thailand for 140 baht which is the currency of thailand!
  this is a nice novel based in vietnam during 1980's
  about an american war deserter called alexander.
  he is in the trading of women.
  his latest victim is a women called hanh , a rural girl who has moved to honoi.
  her full name is tran thi hanh.
  then comes phuc, a siagon business women.
  this novel revolves around the lives of these three people.
  alexander sells women in and out of brothels and does this kind of stuff.
  the girl becomes friends with a russian who wants her to show him around.
  the novel is about the girl and alexander and then alexander plans to sell her in to a brothel.
  she accuses him of betraying her trust.
  he then saves the girl.
  in the end the novel is about the trader of saigon and this was a nice novel. 
• 
  Tripfiction

  A decent storyline that will be even better read in location. Set in Vietnam it is evocative of the country, whether strolling around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi with Alexander and Hanh, or negotiating the bustling and roaring traffic of downtown Saigon, rushing through Cholon or navigating the square around Notre Dame Basilica. This is the 1980s when guns were still commonplace on the streets, lawlessness still affected thousands upon thousands, women were struggling to find their place under the new regime, and when everyone was coming to terms with the legacy of the war. Yet the book also has a tremendous resonance for Vietnam now.
  
  This is the story of three people and how their lives intertwine. Phuc, Hanh and Alexander all share a future that twists and turns like the alleyways of the Old Quarter in Hanoi.
  
  The idea for the novel came to the author when she was on a flight between Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City in 2007, when she sat next a man who sold Asian brides.
  
  The two locations of Hanoi and Saigon are really well drawn, sufficiently for readers to lose themselves in the descriptions of the frantic metropoles, balanced by more quiet, rural scenes. The title, therefore, feels a little misleading, as The Herder operates partly out of Hanoi, and Cheung Hu out of Saigon. Two cities, over 1000km apart, wonderfully depicted.
• 
  Jaffareadstoo

  The Trader of Saigon opens in Vietnam in the 1980s. Alexander is an ex-US army deserter who trades in women, Hanh is a young Vietnamese woman who is trying her best to survive amidst appalling poverty, and Phuc is a business man fallen on hard times who will do anything in his power to protect his family. The intertwining of this disparate group of people weaves together a story of overwhelming greed and utter hopelessness.
  
  Without doubt this is a stunning debut novel, and even though parts of it make for uncomfortable reading, there is no doubt that the evocative style of writing conveys a picture of helplessness and despair, and every sentence evokes a perfect sense of time and place. The mean and often dangerous streets of Hanoi and Saigon where corruption and misery linger on every street corner is expertly explored, and the often stilted and ambiguous nature of survival is encapsulated in a society which treated its women as commodities to be bought and sold.
  
  On a personal level this is a difficult book to enjoy, but the good writing and fine attention to detail more than compensate for the harrowing storyline.
• 
  Joanne

  I really enjoyed this novel. I've developed a love of literature based in Southeast Asia since travelling there, and although I never made it to Vietnam I was able to visualise this novel well, thanks to the excellent atmospheric descriptions.
  
  The Trader of Saigon is set in post-civil war Vietnam, and tells the story of three seemingly unconnected people: Alexander a defector from the Americans who cannot go home, Phuc a well-respected businessman whose business was taken from him during the war and is struggling to make ends meet and feed his family, and Hanh a poor rural girl living in Hanoi who works long hours to buy medicine for her poorly mother.
  
  I loved the sense of place, and really enjoyed the way the three separate stories built and became entwined. Some of the characters weren't always especially likeable at times, but their behaviour was in keeping with the sense of desperation at this time, with people ripped from their lives into poverty - something that made made them do terrible, uncharacteristic things.
  
  I've been really torn between a 4 and 5 star rating, but would have to call it a solid 4.5. Definitely worth reading, highly recommended.
• 
  Sarah

  11th July 2013
  Recieved signed copy of this book this morning as part of a Goodreads giveaway, currently reading another giveaway book will get to this ASAP to read and review
  Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.
• 
  Karen

  I read this because I am visiting Vietnam and thought I might get a feel for the country.
  I book is generally a bit depressing about Vietnamese life so I hope it's improved over the years
  I found most of the characters and storyline believable
• 
  Anette

  
  http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/i...
• 
  Dane Cobain

  I picked this book up because I’m running an indie readalong with my friend Todd the Librarian on BookTube, but I realised after I started reading this that it doesn’t really qualify. It’s published by Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus, and it’s quite clearly been professionally edited and put through rigorous quality checks before it’s made it out on to the market. It’s professionally done, and rightly so.
  
  This is technically historical fiction, because it’s set in Vietnam at some point during the mid-to-late twentieth century. It’s after the war, but before the country’s had time to heal. As for the plot, it’s surprisingly hard to talk about that without giving away spoilers. What I will say is that it involves people trafficking amidst the paranoid backdrop of communist Vietnam, and a dude called Phuc makes some very bad decisions after finding a gambling den.
  
  Cruickshanks’ writing style is accessible and easy to read which means that it’s the kind of book that can just wash over you. She’s also fantastic at creating a sense of place, and it really kicks in right from the opening pages. You can almost taste the food and smell the markets. Cruickshanks has spent some time in Vietnam, of course, but simply spending time somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you can write about it. Lucy can, and that’s a talent.
  
  Sure, there were bits here and there that dragged a little, but that happens with most books. But the good outweighs the bad, and I enjoyed this quite a lot overall. I might not remember the finer details in six months’ time, but it certainly kept me turning the pages right up to the end. When it comes to a book, what more can you ask for?
  
  Will I read the next one? Maybe. There are so many books and so little time. But I’d like to.
• 
  Jasmyn

  This was really easy to read. That though, is the reason for the two star rating.
  
  Until the last 50 pages, the book invoked no feelings of outrage, anger, and sadness in me.
  Considering the themes, this just leaves me scratching my head.
  
  I think if the theme hadn't been what it was I would have given it three stars, and left it as a nice story!
  
  Unfortunately though, it didn't leave me with any enduring fondness.
• 
  Nadia

  This book was okay, but I was expecting a little more. The book was a lot more complicated than it needed to be and I found myself skimming parts because some of the details were just unimportant and irrelevant. I was ready for it to be over.
  
  However, very insightful perspective on human trafficking. It really opened my eyes to the horror of this subject. If this subject makes you uncomfortable, stay away from this book as it can be very startling at times.
• 
  Katrinak

  Interesting perspective on the human trafficking industry with one of the main characters as a human trafficker / brothel owner. Horrible realities revealed through this work of fiction. Gripping enough storyline, but didn't love it.
• 
  Jamad

  Read this one because it was shortlisted for the Guardian “Not the Booker” prize. As a debut novel this isn’t bad, but it wasn’t great for me. The book follows three people in Vietnam. A US Army deserter who pretends to be Russian, not sure how believable that is.
  
  
• 
  Jane Lott

  A very interesting book and one i really enjoyed
• 
  Debbie Manning

  I loved this book from the start. It follows three different lives but they are all connected. Couldn't put it down
• 
  Zarina

  The Trader of Saigon is a beautifully atmospheric novel, that tells the story of a few seemingly unconnected people whose lives become intertwined through bad fortune and sheer desperation in a disordered post-war Vietnam.
  
  The novel starts with Alexander, who is a US Army deserter but for the sake of his safety and blending in he pretends to be a Russian. He is the trader of Saigon the title refers to and his trade is unfortunately not something innocent like spices or even information. No, he trades people. Young women, to be exact. He lurks in dark bars looking out for his next target and through sweet-talking he manages to grab them in his clutches to sell on through a man who calls himself "The Herder". Despite the Herder's more than seedy intentions, Alexander tells himself he's doing the young women a favour by taking them off the streets and finding them a job or a husband.
  
  15-year-old Hahn lives with her sick mother in a rural area outside of the city. Every day she uses her bike to get into the city for her job, she sits outside of a restroom that's little more than a hole in the ground and collects the customers' money for her boss who has yet to actually pay her any wages, and on top of that she also works in the rice fields. Anything to earn a little money so she can buy the medicine she desperately needs for her mother, but even with two jobs and the little rations she's given, she barely gets by.
  
  Phuc used to be a successful and rather rich businessman, selling fish to the good restaurants and making quite a name for himself and his family. But after the war he is a target for the government because his fish often ended up on the plates of the rich Americans and they believe that therefore he is traitor. Now without a steady job or income, and most of the time fearing for his life, Phuc is barely able to support his family. He's lost all dignity and is desperate to change his bad fortune around.
  
  The characters weren't particularly likeable but I think that only heightened the sense of realism in the novel. Post war the cities and villages are still in a state of chaos and the people are traumatised, frightened and live in extreme poverty, unless they're willing to participate in corruption and other illegal activities.
  
  Alexander who thinks quite highly of himself and his job turns out to be a coward hiding from the failures in his past and he is unsure of where he belongs in the world, if anywhere at all. And even Phuc, who seems like an honest and hardworking family man, is eventually tempted to gamble away that was is most important in his life. While he never intends to keep his end of the bargain, the trick he plays with another innocent life is possibly even worse. It shows that anyone is willing to forget his or her morals when desperate enough.
  
  I'm amazed that someone who hasn't personally lived through the Vietnam war, and the years directly after, is able to describe the setting so accurately and with so much detail. I have never been to that part of the world and admit I know little about the country, or even the war other than the tainted picture shown to me in American media, but after reading The trader of Saigon I feel like I've visited Vietnam, walked the dirty and dusty streets, wandered through the endless rice fields and can even describe the rancid smells lingering in the humid air.
  
  My only gripe with the novel is that it is too short. As soon as I opened the pages I found myself transported to the hot and filthy streets of Vietnam with the help of author Lucy Cruickshanks' beautiful descriptions and while it certainly isn't a jolly place to be, it is an extremely fascinating one to read about. But too soon I found myself returning to the here and now because it had already finished. Don't get me wrong, Cruickshanks manages to tell the complex and intricate story well and the pace doesn't feel too quick at all, but her atmospheric writing and detailed descriptions of the post-civil war country simply leaves me wanting more.
  
  4.5 stars
  
  
  
  http://www.pagetostagereviews.com/201...
• 
  Simon

  The Vietnam war is a rich, interesting and deservedly well worn path in literature. But I’ve not read any books about Vietnam in the aftermath of that huge and messy incident. It’s in this post war era where this is set. The American’s have left, the Communist rule that came into place is in full swing and it’s pretty hard work to get by on your average state living. One particular and unsavoury trend of people needing to eke out an existence without much resource was/is the human trafficking business, and this is from where the novel takes its name and the central focal point through which the three main character’s lives intersect.
  
  
  The novel takes a trip through this murky world as well as Saigon’s underbelly of gambling, thievery, police corruption and the like. It’s all pretty grim, but intriguingly so – dramatic not depressing. Beyond the politics and history and cultural legacy what’s also prominent is a pacey novel about three people finding themselves in sticky situations, largely through no fault of their own, but sometimes forced into making decisions that only make things worse for themselves. In these situations they find out who they really are. Big, relatable human topics. The way they try to resolve this is both interesting from a human journey point of view, but also bloody readable as sheer page turning entertainment.
  
  
  I don’t know if reading this during the recent heatwave affected this but the portrayal of Vietnam felt authentically hot and oppressive! The language has clarity and impact. The characters are big and immediate, but complex. And things gradually build as the novel progresses, until the cumulative weight of peoples decisions or circumstances beyond their control reach pitch point. The final third of the book was hugely compelling and I rattled through this last 100-120 pages in one sitting with an eagerness I haven’t experienced in a book in a long while, forsaking treasured sleep time to get to the end. That’s endorsement right there!
• 
  Sharon

  'The Trader of Saigon' by Lucy Cruickshanks is set in the 1980's Vietnam. It is primarily about 3 main characters, Phuc a once affluent businessman (pre war) who is now desperately trying to do the best for his family in the miserable circumstances they now find themselves.
  
  Hahn a 15 year old girl trying to survive as best she can in abject poverty looking after her sick mother and working as a latrine girl.
  
  Alexander, a coward and deserter from the US Army; a man of very little substance struggling with his demons but making a very comfortable living from the trafficking trade. He is an extremely unlikeable character with many failings, some out of his control, but most of his own making. I felt ambivalent about Alexander but eventually formed the opinion that he could only do his best under the circumstances.
  
  The main characters paths cross in dramatic and unexpected circumstances and 'The Trader of Saigon' is an enjoyable, if somewhat unsavoury, read which I found hard to put down. The pace is gentle at the start but rages to an ultimate climax which kept me reading right into the early hours. It is ultimately a tale of survival, retribution and forgiveness.
  
  Lucy Cruickshanks has written this tale in a beautiful, simplistic style, painting vivid scenes of a foreign land and culture. I was drawn so easily and quickly into this world. I could almost smell and feel the atmosphere, the sights and sounds of the streets of Hanoi and Saigon. The impending malevolence palpable from every alley or street corner. The apprehension and fear that anything could happen to you with no help of rescue or assistance.
  
  This is an outstanding debut novel which I enjoyed very much and it will certainly appeal to a wide audience. 'Reading groups' would definitely have some interesting and lively conversations.
  
  I am looking forward to what Lucy Cruickshanks does next.
  
  Thank you to the Team at Newbooks for the opportunity to review this title.
• 
  Tamara L.

  pleasant read. i'm always attracted to books about Asia and to Asia in general. hearing contraindicating comments from tourist about Vietnamese and also wanting to visit Vietnam in near future this book was exactly what i needed in order to understand the last 30 years of Vietnam and the lifestyle i hear about.
  
  Unfortunately Vietnam was just another, far from USA and Russia, country, where these two superpowers wanted to proof their dominance.
  this book describes the post war consequences through stories of three individuals. A Vietnamese extremely-poor girl being taken advantage of and struggling to feed her mother and herself, a family man who's material fortune is take away and who struggles to sustain his family in poverty and ends up gambling, and an ex USA soldier who pretends to be a Russian and trades women with the delusion that he offers them a better life. this book is also about the greediness, cruelty, exploitation and corruption that war brings along.
  
  i heard lots of times that Vietnamese are "cold" and from this book i understand why. after suffering from two foreign powers' games on their soil for sure it will take them long time to trust any foreigner again and be friendly. after reading this book when i will visit this beautiful country i will do it with understanding and honour it.
  
  I liked the simplicity of authors language and descriptions, definitely would like to read more of her work in future.
• 
  Ann Bennett

  This book tells the story of one Vietnamese peasant girl, Hanh in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and how she naively becomes the victim of ruthless human traffickers. It is told through the eyes of three different characters, Hanh herself, Alexander, the GI who went AWOL during the war and has made a new life and identity for himself spotting likely girls to be conned into prostitution or sale, and Phuoc, the former business-man who has lost everything during the communist era and gets drawn into a spiral of despair through trying to gamble his way back to prosperity.
  The book is very atmospheric, conjuring the sights and smells of Vietnam, although it is not quite the Vietnam I know from my travels. This is the underbelly of the country, where corruption, violence and squalor wreck innocent lives.
  All the characters are well drawn, particularly Hahn, but the plot takes a couple of unbelievable, or unexplained, twists towards the end (I won't say how as I don't want to spoil it). I liked the way the three stories are told in tandem and the strands all finally come together.
  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and was sorry when I got to the end.
• 
  Julia Ibbotson

  Excellent book! I loved the evident joy the writer has in words; it was the beautiful prose as much as the story which carried me along, although Lucy Cruickshanks wove the elements of the story well with a satisfying denouement. The book is set in 1980s Vietnam and I found the section at the end of the book where the author explains its birth and the impulse behind it, most interesting. The three main characters are well depicted: Alexander, a deserter from the US army who becomes involved with The Herder, a human trafficker; Hanh, a poor girl scraping a living to keep herself and her sick mother alive, and whom Alexander "chooses" to deliver to The Herder; and Phuk, a former wealthy businessman who has fallen on hard times and is in terror of the Party leaders, and whose life (and that of his daughter) crosses with Alexander and Hanh. I liked the way that their fates intertwined, and the story wove its threads intriguingly, but most of all the poetic prose which at times reflected a Dylan Thomas influence. Well recommended.
• 
  Ichar

  I received this book in a goodreads giveaway. The Trader of Saigon deals with the poignant subjects of corruption and human trafficking in the thriving blackmarket of the slums of postwar Vietnam, and how the war had transformed the country and the lives of its civilians forever. The story is presented in alternating perspectives of its three main characters, each trapped in a desperate circumstance and suffering from their own overwhelming experiences. The author has done a good job of depicting the unique backdrop of the story, and even though most of the characters are of a cynical nature, I found them intriguing and realistic. As the story proceeded, the plot gradually deepened and with it the reader’s interest. The concluding chapters, where the three characters come together, are the most compelling. The only thing I disliked about the book is that I found the writing a bit amateurish for my taste.
• 
  Vanessa

  This is a first novel? It’s a great debut novel and I enjoyed Lucy Cruickshanks writing style. She has crafted some interesting and believable characters woven within an original storyline. I was hooked from the start and read it in two sittings.
  
  Set in 80's Saigon, the culture and attitudes of the times are captured perfectly with a wealth of detail which really brought to life the poverty and oppression many people suffered during these times, and I could easily imagine the sights and sounds of the city.
  
  This is not a comfortable read by any means – it shows us the disturbing, dangerous and dark side of gambling, blackmail and prostitution that envelopes the characters.
  
  Ingenious, compelling and emotionally involving, the story was skilfully built to entwine the lives of three main characters – the impact their decisions and actions have on the lives of others, and as the book concludes they each find out who they really are.