Goodbye, Saigon

A Novel

By: Nina Vida

Narrated by: Lauren Tom

Little Saigon, Westminster, California, 1993. Anh, a diminutive, self-promoting, brash, Vietnamese beauty, supports her ever-extending family on tips from a gambling lawyer. Upon his disappearance, Anh turns to his secretary Jana, a tough, self-sufficient Anglo in need of money as desperately as Anh. Together they set up a bogus law practice in Little Saigon in which Anh supplies the clients while Jana plays lawyer.

Business thrives until the vicious Nep gang decides it wants a piece of their action. When a vet who knew Anh in Saigon comes to offer her a new life, Anh must first enlist Jana's aid in paying a blood debt owed to her past.

In Goodbye, Saigon, Nina Vida has created a community of vivid, unforgettable characters. Never has the experience of recent immigrants been portrayed with such love, such authenticity, such a tragicomic understanding of individuals forced to build a future in the country that has obliterated their past.

©1995 Nina Vida (P)2009 Phoenix

Critic reviews

"Gracefully depicting two people from different backgrounds working together with loyalty and some, if not complete, understanding in the context of a racist society, Vida demonstrates the survival of the human spirit under the most challenging and tragic circumstances. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)
"Powerhouse fiction, fueled by an obnoxious yet sympathetic protagonist whose grittiness and determination hold together the frenetic plot." (Kirkus Reviews)