Re-read of the memoir.

This is the sequel to "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places", the memoir of a Vietnam peasant girl who escapes the horror of the Vietnam War and heads to America with a US soldier. I actually liked this account even more than the Le Ly's first memoir--perhaps because Child of War was less brutal (not as many descriptions of extreme torture). Le Ly's life in America is still not without constant struggle. What I learned most from this book was Le Ly's strength and forgiveness despite all the pain she endured from both the Vietnamese and Americans.

If you've ever wanted to learn a bit about Vietnam, Le Ly Hayslip's first memoir, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, is essential reading. It's tragic and brutal, but quite possibly my all-time favorite autobiography due to it's being so passionate, honest, heart-felt, informative, and completely lacking in ego (which is strange in an auto-bio). Child of War, Woman of Peace may not be quite as compelling, but it comes remarkably close, considering that this is a whole different kind of memoir--something far less shocking and set much, much closer to home. It's a fantastic companion piece to her first book, identifying the struggles of becoming an American immigrant and getting immersed in a culture so vastly different from everything she had ever known--and there are some good comedic bits here regarding her misunderstanding of American traditions and customs, especially Halloween. From her unique perspective, we are given a look into what makes this country great, as well as many of the excesses and prejudices we, as Americans, still need to overcome in order to find our true soul as a nation. During the course of this book, Hayslip makes some incredibly difficult decisions--such as whether or not to allow herself to be blackmailed into getting married in order to rescue her sister's family--and her resilience in dealing with the effects of these decisions (even when the choices she made were bad ones) is incredibly inspirational. Despite living a life that would crush most people's spirits, Haylsip rises above the challenges and is able to achieve something for her home country that nobody would have thought possible. The fact that she manages to write about all this without boasting, pointing fingers of blame at others, or sounding like a victim just makes me admire her all the more. Of course, she is far from perfect and, to her credit, readily admits to her short-comings in all aspects of her life. This is a book about making peace with your past mistakes, and then moving forward with your life. It is not a put-down of America, a put-down of Vietnam, or a criticism of soldiers and politicians on either side of the war. It is simply a call to recognize that we all have a lot more things in common than we do differences. The idea of Karma figures into a lot of what Hayslip preaches, and, while her brand of spiritualism is radically different than mine, I applaud her efforts to retain her spiritual connections in life, and I appreciate the respect she shows people who disagree with her. Great book, and far more impacting than the Oliver Stone movie version, though reading COW,WOP has made me want to go back and revisit the film one more time.

Again the author digs deep and tells a emotional story guaranteed to keep your attention.

Wow - this book is a ride! A life full - full of conflict, confusion, resilience, compassion, and love. Husbands and other unsuitable men, children, foster children, mothers, siblings, rivalries. I was riveted - what will happen next? Impressive life, impressive woman.

The book started off really good but I feel like it got very preachy. She constantly gets cheated by people but she lets it go because of her karma. She feels as though she deserves the unlucky events of her life because of her karma. It just doesn't give a good explanation on why she feels the ways she does. I understand that it is her memoir but the book does a terrible job of communicating with the reader. The first book was fabulous but this one was a flop.

Quite inspiring. However Le Ly's account of her trials and tribulations would put anyone off immigrating to the US!

I"m not sure why I have found Le Ly's two books so compelling - while the narrative and honesty in the books is outstanding, there are some really interesting insights when Le Ly constantly tries to explain and reconcile her Buddhist upbringing and life-long philosophy to the Baptist community in which she finds herself in San Diego. While she is street smart, her reliance on fortune tellers and her naivety in love are surprising at times. Her story is one of looking for inclusion but often being perceived both in the US and when she returns to Vietnam as an outsider.

I enjoyed this follow-up to Le Ly Hayslip's first memoir about growing up in the middle of the Vietnam War. This book fills in a lot of gaps and illustrates her experiences as a Vietnamese refugee who fled to the US while the war was still raging. I read both this book and her previous book in order to get a more "local" perspective of the war (as opposed to a biased political view from either side of the conflict). I think these two books combined did a good job at revealing the good and bad of both sides--both before and after the war--and so it accomplished exactly what I was after.

Le Ly's humanity and perseverance are an inspiration, and a reminder if how lucky we are to have been born in America.

This book pissed me off.

I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. Especially the last 100 pages -- they seemed to sort of drag on. Still, I am glad I took the time to read and rest of her journey.