The Man From Saigon by Marti Leimbach

Synopses:
It's 1967 and Susan Gifford is one of the first women correspondents in Saigon, dedicated to her job and passionately in love with an American TV reporter. Son is a Vietnamese photographer anxious to get his work to get his work into the American press. Together they cover every aspect of the war from combat missions to the working of field hospitals. Then one November morning, after narrowly escaping death during an ambush, they find themselves the prisoners of three Vietcong soldiers who have been separated from their unit. Helpless in the hands of the enemy, they face the jungle, living always with the threat of being killed. But Son turns out to have a secret history that one day will separate Susan from her American lover. As they are held under terrifyingly harsh conditions, it becomes clear just how profound their relationship is, and how important it has become to both of them.

My Rating: 8/10

My Thoughts:
I picked this book up randomly from my library's new books shelves. I'm always looking for books about Asia, and Vietnam specifically, that don't have anything to do with war. And honestly there are very few. For that reason, this book intrigued me. Now, I know that this book IS about the Vietnam war, but because it was from the perspective of a woman and hinted at a love story with a Vietnamese man, I was hooked and picked it up.

This book is told in alternating perspectives between Susan and her boyfriend. I LOVED Susan's sections, and HATED the perspective of her idiot lover. (I kept flipping ahead to see how many more agonizing pages I had left until it switched back to Susan) Honestly, I just wanted to keep reading about Son. He was fascinating, and I fell in love with him way before Susan started having feelings for him.

I was kept guessing the whole time about how this book was going to end. And I feared the worst, (after all it is a war novel) but hoped for the best. The ending surprised me. I think I should have been angry with how it ended, but I'm very strange when it comes to endings, and if an ending can throw me a curve ball, I usually like it. Even if it's not your typical happy ending.

I feel like I'm being kind of cryptic with this review, but I never know how much to say about a book without risking giving something away. So, overall, even though there were sections that I dreaded coming to and hated while reading, I really enjoyed this book. (Though I think I would like any book that gives me a male character to fall in love with) I would recommend it.