In Vietnamese culture, if someone is not properly honored with a burial, “their souls are cursed to wander the earth aimlessly, as ghosts.” This is a story of ghosts- those who died fleeing Vietnam following the war, but also the living whose souls were crushed by the aftermath.
Written in succint, precise prose, “Wandering Souls” tells the story of siblings- Anh (16), Minh (13), and Thanh (10) who were separated from their parents and younger siblings when the family attempts to make the perilous journey to Hong Kong on two separate boats. Tragically, only Anh, Minh and Thanh arrive at their destination. What follows is a journey of assimilation, and finding home as these orphaned siblings are shuffled between numerous refugee camps until they are ‘settled’ in the United Kingdom. This comes as a blow because their parents wanted them to move to ‘The Land of the Free’- where immigrants could be whatever they wanted.
This idyllic dream is shattered in cold, hostile Britain which is supicious of immigrants, and by extension, these three Vietnamese refugees. Anh quickly takes up the role of mother and father to her younger brothers, forgoing her education to become their caregiver. Minh is disillusioned by life in Britain and quickly falls into unemployment, and petty crime. It is the youngest sibling, Thanh, who is able to adapt.
These three siblings struggle against the thinly-veiled prejudice of Thatcher’s Britain while attempting to create meaning of all that was lost in their journey. In Anh’s words,
“If the three of them did not achieve success here, their family’s demise had no meaning, no overarching resolution.”
Cecile Pin from”Wandering Souls”
However, “Wandering Souls” is more than a story of survival and sacrifice. The author attempts to build a larger picture of life for immigrants, and how oftentimes, trauma is a multigenerational inheritance. Framed by Anh’s daughter, Jane, in current times, the novel shifts between multiple narrators- the ghost of Anh’s brother, Dao; two American soldiers involved in the real-life Operation Wandering Soul in 1967 Vietnam; and historical documents.
The story drifts and meanders, telling multiple narratives at a time but at its core, presents a tender portrayal of perseverance, finding home, and painful memories. The author explores how individual lives are moulded by external, historical forces, and then how these lives rebuilt against all odds.