Owner of Otter Books Letty Bartels offers up her review of The Beauty of Humanity Movement.
Surprisingly, there are not as many novels set in Vietnam as one might expect. This makes Camilla Gibb’s new book The Beauty of Humanity Movement all the more impactful.
Set in modern day Hanoi, the story mingles old and new values and manages to show us how the Vietnamese people are emerging from the past horrors of colonization, communism and war into a modern and vibrant country developing itself for itself.
Gibb’s lovingly drawn characters bridge the gaps between old and young, traditional values and western influences and past and recent history.
The three main protagonists are Tu, the young tour guide, Hung, the old Pho seller, and Maggie, the Vietnamese dissident’s daughter who escaped communist Vietnam as a child and now returns as a suspect ‘Viet Kieu’. Together, they untangle the mystery of who Maggie’s father was, improve Hung’s lot, and help Tu discover his talents.
This is a hopeful, compassionate book which also contains a wealth of fascinating historical detail which left me feeling I had a better understanding of Vietnam, past and present. Highly recommended!
