The Collection of Heng Souk by S.R. Wilsher
To some, Heng Souk is a hero. To many he is a criminal. For Souk himself he is neither, merely a man seeking to balance what he once was, with what he now is. When the daughter of his estranged brother arrives, with her comes the possibility of atonement.
Sun has come to tell him of the death of her father and to return a surprise package. Yet her frail uncle is a very different man from her tough and testing father. When she discovers in his possession a notebook written by an American POW detailing his torturous relationship with his captor, she is startled by what she learns.
Meanwhile, Thomas Allen, still reeling from the death of his daughter and the breakup of his marriage, is told that the man he always called Dad was not his biological father. His mother gives him a batch of letters she still has from the ‘real’ disappeared father. Their tragically unresolved love story prompts Thomas to find out why his mother’s ‘greatest love’ never returned to her after the Vietnam War.
His search leads him to the notorious prison ‘the Citadel’, and to Sun and her uncle. Despite the hostility of her brutal husband and deceitful mother, Sun and Thomas begin a perilous relationship. Aware that the fate of Thomas’ father is revealed in Ephraim’s notebook, she is torn between helping Thomas in his search and the damaging effect revealing what is in the notebook will mean for all of them.
Sun has come to tell him of the death of her father and to return a surprise package. Yet her frail uncle is a very different man from her tough and testing father. When she discovers in his possession a notebook written by an American POW detailing his torturous relationship with his captor, she is startled by what she learns.
Meanwhile, Thomas Allen, still reeling from the death of his daughter and the breakup of his marriage, is told that the man he always called Dad was not his biological father. His mother gives him a batch of letters she still has from the ‘real’ disappeared father. Their tragically unresolved love story prompts Thomas to find out why his mother’s ‘greatest love’ never returned to her after the Vietnam War.
His search leads him to the notorious prison ‘the Citadel’, and to Sun and her uncle. Despite the hostility of her brutal husband and deceitful mother, Sun and Thomas begin a perilous relationship. Aware that the fate of Thomas’ father is revealed in Ephraim’s notebook, she is torn between helping Thomas in his search and the damaging effect revealing what is in the notebook will mean for all of them.
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By
Nickinic - Ebooks Galore "Authors please feel... (Middle of Nowhere, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Collection of Heng Souk (Kindle Edition)
This was a really well written story. The diary pages that were from a POW were outstanding. I wasn't extremely impressed with the feelings and slight romance in the story. I feel it took too much away from the history being revealed. I loved the Old War stories and the plot that unfolded. Searching for what happened to his father, Thomas was a well written character. Sun is who I wasn't overly thrilled with. She's the neice of a Vietnam soldier who was brutal and merciless. I felt that instead of making her situation better, she fed into it.
If you're looking for a great past time story, read this. Everyone who's fascinated with war, POW's, this is a book for you. It reads like a mystery of sort, even though we know what's happening. Seeing the changes of the men involved in the story was great. The ways that Sun's uncle explained his feelings of the things he had done was really the highlight of the book for me. It certainly showed the changes in his character. The way that Sun and Thomas were connected through their family histories was very interesting. I think that without the "sparks" between them, it would have been better. It's truly a gripping story with a heart warming ending. This was a good book. |
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