The beginning

The Unwanted, by Kien Nguyen.

Ok, so the main character is the author and he is writing a memoir of his childhood. His name is Kien Nguyen. His mother is from Vietnam, but his father is American. The father lived with her when he was over fighting the Viet Cong. When the U.S. troops left, he left also. He left behind his son, Kien, only a few months old. He also left the mother with a lot of money. His younger brother was also born this way. She married the second man, though later she would deny it for their safety, and had another son, Jimmy. When this man left for America, he also left their mother a decent amount of money. She bought a mansion when she was pregnant with Kien and named it the Nguyen mansion. She also started a partnership of a bank, where she spent a lot of time and made a lot of money. Kien spent a lot of time, talking about his mother in the beginning. Her hands were her prized possession and at one time she had been a hand model. She was also a beautiful woman, but she was very self centered and treated her servants like dirt. They had lots of money and the children were happy, until the Viet Cong got closer to their town. He mentions that there will be a problem with him being a "half-breed" in the new society. I assume that they will lose their money and that he will have a hard time growing up because he will be constantly teased for being part American. That is what his mother was trying to hide when she built a wall around their mansion, her shame.

Nhatrang is located on the northeastern cost of Vietnam. Not there are many resorts ect. because it is a beautiful place. The people living there, however, live in poverty.