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Red Blood, Yellow Skin: A Young Girl's Survival in War-Torn Vietnam
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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WINNER OF THE NORTH STREET BOOK PRIZE COMPETITION
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is the story of a young girl's survival in war-torn Vietnam during the First Indochina War between France and Vietnam, the civil war between North and South Vietnam, and the later American involvement in the Vietnam War. Linda Baer was born Nguyen Thi Loan, in the village of Tao Xa, Thai Binh Province, in North Vietnam in 1947. When she was four years old, the Viet Minh attacked her village and killed her father, leaving Loan and her mother to fend for themselves. Seeking escape from impoverishment, her mother married a rich and dominating widower who was cruel to his free-spirited and mischievous stepdaughter. Loan found solace in the company of animals and insects and escaped into the branches of trees.
In 1954, her family chose to relocate to South Vietnam, rather than live under the yoke of communist North Vietnam. When Loan was thirteen, she ran away to Saigon to flee the cruelty of her stepfather and worked at menial jobs to help her family. At seventeen, she was introduced to bars, nightclubs, and Saigon Tea. At eighteen, she dated and lived with a young American airman.Two months after their baby was born, the airman returned to America, and Loan never heard from him again. She raised their son by herself. However, time healed her heart, and she eventually found true love in a young air force officer, whom she married and accompanied to America in 1971.
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is a story of romance, culture, traditions, and family. It describes the pain, struggle, despair, and violence as Loan lived it. The story is hers, but it is also an account of Vietnam of those who were uprooted, displaced, brutalized, and left homeless. It is about this struggle to survive and her extraordinary triumph over adversity that Baer writes.
Linda Baer was born Nguyen Thi Loan, in a small village in North Vietnam. Her family relocated to South Vietnam in 1954. She spent most of her youth in Saigon, where she met her husband. She followed him to America in 1971 and became an American citizen in 1973. She currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina, where she is a successful businesswoman.
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is the story of a young girl's survival in war-torn Vietnam during the First Indochina War between France and Vietnam, the civil war between North and South Vietnam, and the later American involvement in the Vietnam War. Linda Baer was born Nguyen Thi Loan, in the village of Tao Xa, Thai Binh Province, in North Vietnam in 1947. When she was four years old, the Viet Minh attacked her village and killed her father, leaving Loan and her mother to fend for themselves. Seeking escape from impoverishment, her mother married a rich and dominating widower who was cruel to his free-spirited and mischievous stepdaughter. Loan found solace in the company of animals and insects and escaped into the branches of trees.
In 1954, her family chose to relocate to South Vietnam, rather than live under the yoke of communist North Vietnam. When Loan was thirteen, she ran away to Saigon to flee the cruelty of her stepfather and worked at menial jobs to help her family. At seventeen, she was introduced to bars, nightclubs, and Saigon Tea. At eighteen, she dated and lived with a young American airman.Two months after their baby was born, the airman returned to America, and Loan never heard from him again. She raised their son by herself. However, time healed her heart, and she eventually found true love in a young air force officer, whom she married and accompanied to America in 1971.
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is a story of romance, culture, traditions, and family. It describes the pain, struggle, despair, and violence as Loan lived it. The story is hers, but it is also an account of Vietnam of those who were uprooted, displaced, brutalized, and left homeless. It is about this struggle to survive and her extraordinary triumph over adversity that Baer writes.
Linda Baer was born Nguyen Thi Loan, in a small village in North Vietnam. Her family relocated to South Vietnam in 1954. She spent most of her youth in Saigon, where she met her husband. She followed him to America in 1971 and became an American citizen in 1973. She currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina, where she is a successful businesswoman.
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Reviews for Red Blood, Yellow Skin
Rating: 3.1875 out of 5 stars
3/5
8 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Loan's father dies, her mother marries a rich, but domineering doctor. The doctor treats Loan very poorly, beating her for acting like a child. When the situation in North Vietnam worsens, the family travels to South Vietnam, completely changing their economic status. Poor, with barely enough to eat, Loan leaves home at 13 to work in Saigon. After several years of working odd jobs, her situation changes when American's enter Vietnam in numbers. She makes money selling goods on the black market and, drinking Saigon Tea. She is arrested numerous times for having insufficient money to bribe the police. After having a baby with an airman, he leaves, and she never sees him again. This was quite a story. The life Loan lived was remarkable, it's quite miraculous that she survived. The book did seem choppy at times, Loan glossed over several periods of time. One chapter she was starving and in the next she had three maids and seemed to be much better off. Overall, well worth reading.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sad. Heartbreaking at times. Vietnam is endlessly fascinating to me, and I'm certainly lucky that I've never had to experience the same strife as the Vietnamese people have.
I received a copy of this book through Goodreads' giveaways. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5DNF @ 6%There is a mind-numbing level of detail in this book but absolutely no feeling. The author rattles off every minute particular of each event in a list-like manner. Emotions are described, but never felt. Somewhere in the minutiae, I can detect a whisper of the author's personality in the story, but it never manifests more strongly than a faded memory. It's an interesting story, but the writing is not that of a storyteller.I received a complimentary copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway. Many thanks to all involved in providing me with this opportunity.
Book preview
Red Blood, Yellow Skin - Linda L.T. Baer
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