Ru: In Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also sig
nifies a flow - of tears, blood, money. Kim Thuy's Ru is literature at its most
crystalline: the flow of a life on the tides of unrest and on to more peaceful w
aters. In vignettes of exquisite clarity, sharp observation and sly wit, we are
carried along on an unforgettable journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to
a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec.
There, the young girl feels the embrace of a new community, and revels in th
e chance to be part of the American Dream. As an adult, the waters become rough
again: now a mother of two, she must learn to shape her love around the younger
boy's autism. Moving seamlessly from past to present, from history to memory and
back again, Ru is a book that celebrates life in all its wonder: its moments of
beauty and sensuality, brutality and sorrow, comfort and comedy.
