After sorrow Book

A RARE CLOMPSE INTO THE SOUL OF VIT NAM

In her deeply moving memoir of Viet Nam, Lady Borton presents the "American war" from the view of the courageous peasants on the ground, underneath the B-52's and Agent Orange-stripped trees. Their extraordinary stories are of a kind we have not heard before: stories of women who smuggled weapons under vats of fish sauce, concocted camouflage from banana leaves, dug tunnels, carried messages through enemy territory, gave away their children to keep them safe, all the while tending to the daily work of village life-providing food, burying and visiting the dead, and observing religious holidays. Drawing on twenty-five years of work in Viet Nam, Borton achieves an unprecedented intimacy with its people and lets their voices set the tone of conciliation and renewal. Without calling attention to herself, Borton-the first westerner allowed to live in a Vietnamese village since the war's end-suffuses her account with a deep respect for all those we left behind.

Borton's women friends recall their war stories of climbing mountains, hiding in rivers, capturing prisoners, transporting hidden guns, and mourning their dead. From a young intellectual to the 81-year-old peasant who stitched the national flag, their words convey to American readers the ordinary people against whom we fought. 24 pages of photos. Maps.