THINGS WE LOST TO THE WATER by Eric Nguyen is follows a young Vietnamese mother named Hương and her two sons, Tuấn and Bình (who later changes his name to Ben). The novel starts when Hương and her boys flee to New Orleans shortly after the fall of Saigon, unwillingly leaving their husband and father, Công, behind in Vietnam.

This family saga spans almost 30 years, following Hương, Tuấn, and Ben's lives as they struggle to assimilate and come to terms with Công's absence. Each character perspective has a very different voice and I thought Nguyen did an excellent job of making each character feel like a real person. As such, I want to emphasize that this novel is very much a character study rather than a fast paced, plot-driven story.

These characters are not perfect. For example, Hương tries her best as a single mother and is well-intentioned with her parenting, but she can't understand the otherness that her sons face as immigrants in America. By not realizing the needs of her Americanized sons, her Vietnamese style parenting only ends up pushing them away and fostering resentment.

Tuấn and Bình, in turn, find themselves seeking acceptance outside of their family unit. On one hand, Tuấn vehemently holds on to his heritage and takes up with a local Vietnamese gang. Meanwhile, Bình changes his name to Ben and navigates his emerging sexuality alone, hiding that part of his identity from his family.

I actually read Ocean Vuong's ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS shortly after THINGS WE LOST, and I think fans of Vuong would appreciate what Nguyen has to offer. This quote from ON EARTH felt particularly relevant to THINGS WE LOST: "You once told me that memory is a choice. But if you were god, you'd know it's a flood." As the title suggests, the motif of water is pervasive in THINGS WE LOST - the narrative is reminiscent of sifting through memory: pivotal moments coming in and out of focus, at times gradually swelling like a tide, at other times like a flood. And like water, these THINGS WE LOST beautifully depicts how these moments can cause to families to either collide or to be torn apart.

4.5 stars

Having just finished this novel, I'm already getting chills looking back at even just the title.

The three central characters - Huong (mother), Tuan (eldest son), and Binh who later goes by Ben (youngest son) - take readers on the journey of their family's escape from Vietnam through various scenes in their lives for the next nearly 30 years. It is a pleasure to get to know these characters, even in their struggles and tribulations, and I love the way Nguyen treats the gaps in time. So much gets covered in so little space, and I enjoyed piecing together some of the details: when and how changes might have taken place, noting growth, etc.

For me, the final chapters of this work are particularly noteworthy. Nguyen exerts incredible power through imagery, memory, dis/connection, and evolution, and I can't wait to read their future works.

This story follows a family who escapes Vietnam and immigrates to New Orleans. We see the struggles of the family trying to find familiarity while surviving in a foreign country. Written in Own Voice, this story really shows the dynamic of each character with their struggles and growth.

The writing is amazing and although the story was a bit rushed at the end, everything as a whole was well put together. The story is close to my heart as the family immigrating here with their struggles and challenges are too realistic for me. The upbringing of the kids with the mother's hopes and expectations made me remember some things about my childhood. I think this is an amazing book to have some insight and perspective, although this is a fictional story most of it was realistic for me as it brought up some old memories about the war. I had to take some time to digest and process this book as again it was too real. I felt melancholy after finishing this book but overall still amazing and beautiful!

Things We Lost to the Water
A novel
by Eric Nguyen
Read an Excerpt
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Knopf
New Adult
Pub Date 04 May 2021 | Archive Date Not set

This book is on a list of books to watch for this year!! This debut novel tells the story of a refugee family seeking a new life in New Orleans. I learned a lot as I followed the emotions of each family member. I'm glad I read the book but will not be recommending it to our readers. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley for the digital ARC.
3 star

Things We Lost to the Water is not a book I would have normally picked up, but I am so glad I did. Originally, I requested an ARC of this title because the author was local and had scheduled a virtual program with my library.
This story follows a mother and her two sons as they leave the war in Vietnam behind and try to start a new life in New Orleans. Over the decades, they grow farther apart, unable to understand each others' life choices. Until, as the synopsis teases, a disaster strikes New Orleans.
For dealing with such heavy and sorrowful topics, this book was remarkably easy to read. The timeline runs from the family's arrival in the late 1970's to 2005. Despite covering such a wide timeframe, I feel as though each's character's growth was well-conveyed. I'm going to assume that many readers remember will remember the most recent disaster that New Orleans faced - Katrina.
Being from Louisiana myself - in a city recently pummeled by a Category 4 hurricane - Nguyen's description of the frantic energy and tension leading up to a hurricane was spot on.
I absolutely recommend this book.
~I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.~

Eric Nguyen is a huge talent. The narrative surrounds a Vietnamese mother and her two young children who escape wartorn, communist Vietnam for America - New Orleans specifically where they attempt to shape a new life. The mother battles loneliness, separated from her husband who vanished on the journey. The oldest son encounters racist micro-aggressions on the playground, then grows through a Vietnamese gang phase and into adulthood, and the youngest son is making sense of his sexuality, and of his unquenchable thirst for literature. The tension of the book rests with the missing father and the mother's constant attempts to reach him - she records tapes, sends letters, and hides the truth about the missing man from the two boys.
This book is lyrical but sharp, each character is fully formed and authentic, and Nguyen takes on the gargantuan task of capturing New Orleans gallantly, painting the Quarter with vibrant colors one moment, and then capturing the cigarette butts in the muddy bayou the next. He spans decades with this tale of a complex family, and frankly, the book could be twice the length and still have that same feeling of familiarity, uneasiness, and tenderness.
A wonderful read.

This story of Vietnamese refugees trying to remake their life in New Orleans reminds me of slice-of-life movies that have gotten critical acclaim recently, movies like Roma and Minari. However, while Minari is about an immigrant family, Things We Lost to the Water is about a refugee family, and my daughter, who majored in international studies, reminded me that the two are very different. Immigrants have come to some degree voluntarily, and they often have plans for what they want to do and believe that they can have a better life here. Refugees usually don’t want to leave their homeland, and have a longing for what was lost.

Life doesn’t turn out as planned for lots of people, but for Huong, a young mother with two young sons, being in a strange country without her husband is almost overwhelming. As the book progresses, we see how each member of the family tries to cope. The writing is evocative and lyrical, yet I always felt like I was watching the family from a distance. It was not until the end that I really felt for Huong as she sees her sons drift apart from her. It is a book that makes you reflect, and to have more empathy for people who are trying to do their best after war has shattered their former lives. And I was happy that by the end of the book I had a hint to the feeling that they could come together in some way once again.

THINGS WE LOST TO THE WATER by Eric Nguyen is an excellent and heartbreaking debut novel! This story is about Huong and her two sons who immigrated from Vietnam to New Orleans. Right away I was immediately transported to Huong’s struggles as she begins her new life. There were some very touching moments in the book when her sons encountered hate and racism that brought me to tears. It was so easy for me to connect to these characters. I found myself totally engrossed and I finished this book in less than 24 hours! I loved the expansive timeline and the focus on each family member. It’s a truly remarkable story about one family’s desire to stay afloat in life and with each other. Highly recommend!!
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Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group via NetGalley for my uncorrected proof!

In this beautifully written debut novel, Nguyen tells the journey of a refugee family who flees Vietnam and settles in the United States. Along the way, they tragically get separated from each other with the father staying behind and the mother, Huong, pregnant and with a young son, having to start a new life in New Orleans. As Huong and her two sons grow up and apart, they each struggle with belonging, trauma, and identity in their own way. This sweeping multi-generational family saga will appeal to book clubs, those who enjoy historical fiction, books set in New Orleans, character driven novels, and books with immigration and LGBTQ themes. Readalikes include Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America by Jessica Goudeau and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. This is a great addition to to the Own Voices movement.

**** I recieved this ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my review****

Things We Lost to the Water is the only book I read all March, and it was so good I had to sit with it that long. This is the story of Huong, Tuan and Binh, but also the story of so many immigrant families who have had to deal with deep loss over, and over, and over. The ending felt rushed, abrupt even, and I wanted so much more from the characters but like life, often we only get to see a bit of the healing, a smidge of closure before we close the pages. This is true of this story. Eric Nguyen gives so much heart of all of these characters, and though I'm neither Vietnamese nor an immigrant, I saw so much of my family in these characters and it reminded that this is what good writing is: connecting people to your words, no matter their walk of life, and leaving a lasting impression. Job well done.

Eric Nguyen’s debut novel Things We Lost to the Water is the story of a Vietnamese immigrant family navigating life in pre-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. I received an advance copy from @aaknopf via @netgalley (thank you!) in exchange for my honest review of this work. Things We Lost to the Water will be released on May 4th, 2021.

Things We Lost to the Water is the story of Huong, a young mother, separated from her husband Cong while escaping post-war Vietnam. Arriving alone in America with an infant and young son, she is relocated to New Orleans with the help of local church missions. They are soon installed in an apartment community of fellow Vietnamese immigrants but each still longs for a sense of community, familiarity, and family.

I immediately fell in love with this family. Nguyen tells their story from the perspective of single mom Huong, elder son Tuan, five years old at immigration, and youngest son Bihn, brought to America as an infant, who rechristens himself as the Americanized “Ben” as soon as he is old enough to speak his mind. I was so fully engrossed in the earlier portions of the book, particularly those voiced by young Tuan and young Ben. I felt the book ended sooner than I expected - maybe I’m a greedy reader, but I just wanted more of the story. I really enjoyed this book and am so looking forward to more fiction from Eric Nguyen.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In this beautifully written debut novel, a woman and her two sons slowly set roots in New Orleans after fleeing Vietnam. For a while, there is an expectation that the husband/father will soon follow, and his absence follows the characters as they slowly set down roots. The voice flows from one character to another as their identities shift and change. They seek meaning in different ways as well, and Nguyen gently (but insistently) incorporates the legacy of trauma into their journeys. The novel ends at Hurricane Katrina, but that remains a fairly small event in the larger scope of the story.

Have you ever stumbled on a book with the perfect title? Not because the title sounds pretty but because it fits the story so well? It happened to me twice: the first time with A little life by Hanya Yanagihara and especially for the French translation: Une vie comme les autres -- which can roughly be translated as "A life like any other one" -- and if you've read that book, you know why. And the second time is with the book I'm reviewing today: Things We Lost to the Water.

I believe you'll never understand how much this title fits the story unless you read the book. Yeah I know it's obvious but please read it and please understand how losing something to the water is the recurring theme of this book. Eric Nguyen explains that water is the enemy but is also what connects the main characters. It connects them to what they love, what they used to love, who they used to be but also who they are. Water, in this book, isn't simply a liquid. It isn't simply a vast area you need to go through. Water is a symbol. I believe that water is especially meaningful for the Vietnamese community, especially the ones who immigrated after the war -- who fled their country because of communism. These people are called "boat people" because they left Vietnam through boats (though, I believe it was possible for them to flee by foot e.g hidden in trucks). I believe water is meaningful for them -- and by extension to me -- because it can be considered as a symbol: the vast area you need to cross to be able to have a "better life." Water is like hope. But then, water is also considered as the enemy -- the common enemy to all these Vietnamese people. A lot of Vietnamese people lost their lives to water, they lost their country to it, they lost loved ones too. If I wasn't a lazy person, I'd probably wrote a long ass essay about how this title is so meaningful to this book but also to the Vietnamese community in general. Things We Lost to the Water isn't simply a "pretty" title -- it's the reality a lot of Vietnamese people know.
For our main characters, water is like a bittersweet companion. Their story and their development always come back to water and more precisely to the ocean. I liked how each main character had a different "relationship" with water. It wasn't only "we hate water" but each time it was mentioned, depending of the pov, it was different. Huong felt like she lost everything to water: her country, her husband, who she is. Tuan felt like he lost himself because when he left, he was still a young boy. He was still someone who was still growing, who didn't know who he was without his dad and the country where he was born. And then there is Binh -- or maybe should I say "Ben?" -- who never knew Vietnam because he was born after his mom left. I believe Ben lost his identity as a Vietnamese boy. More precisely, he never got the chance to be "Binh" because he never got the chance to grow in Vietnam. And I believe that's why his character was so interesting, especially when you put it in perspective with his brother, Tuan. Ben doesn't feel any attachment to Vietnam -- all he knows are stuff he knows from his mom or his brother. But that's it. There is no particularly a feeling of attachment because it's not something he can feel because he doesn't know it. That's why it was so easy for him to grow up as an "American boy" because it was all he knew. On the other hand, Tuan was the boy in between. He was old enough to miss Vietnam, to feel its loss but he was also growing as a man in America.
I liked the fact that the father was there throughout the story. Not there physically but still there, if you get me. Even if he wasn't there with them in the US, his presence was almost overwhelming for the main characters, especially the two sons. Both of them had to live while thinking about how their father would react to their decisions. And while reading you could honestly felt how much his presence burdened them, especially for Ben who never got to know his father. He always had to match what his father would have wanted -- who he was supposed to be when he grows up, what he was supposed to do, how he was supposed to act. Maybe this is why I liked Ben so much as a character: because while growing up, he still tried, you know. He tried so hard to be the person his mother (and supposedly his father) wanted him to be. He tried so hard until he broke.
I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of disappointed by the ending. And I believe this was more because of the way the synopsis was written than the actual ending. So the synopsis says something like "disaster strikes the city" and yeah there is a disaster but unlike the synopsis says, the characters don't "find a new way to come together". OR MAYBE THEY ACTUALLY DO BUT I'M DUMB AF AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT. While reading the synopsis, I thought that the "disaster" was going to happen halfway through the story as if it was the turning point. Like the thing that makes everything worse until it becomes better you know? But then, it pretty much happens by the end of the story and was more use as a "ending" point than a "turning" point if that makes any sense. Well now that I think about it, the characters may have found a "new way to come together" but since it wasn't what I was expecting, I was disappointed. Though again, it is not the author's fault but more a me fault since I was mislead by the synopsis.
The ending was maybe disappointing for me but was still really poetical to read. The whole story was about what the characters lost to the water but also what they gain from it. They grew from the water, learnt who they are without a key figure of their family. It is ultimately a story about a family members who are trying to find who they are, in a place who may not want them.

In THINGS WE LOST TO THE WATER, Huong is separated from her husband when she flees Vietnam in 1978 and resettles in New Orleans with her two sons, Tuan and Binh/Ben. The story is beautifully told from all three of their point of views as they each struggle to find their place in their new country and how the trauma of war and separation fractures their relationships with one another. Throughout the novel, each of them seeks to reconnect with the life they left behind (or in Ben’s case, a father he never knew). Those attempts brought mixed results—moments of hope, grief, joy, and regret—at different phases of their lives. The writing kept me at the edge of me seat as I watched the fragile nature of this family’s dynamic ebb and flow. I often found the specificity in the small, day-to-day scenes in their lives most thoughtful and captivating.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!