We Are Here
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.96 (805 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1743319274 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-04-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Cat Thao is an Australian writer and lawyer. She has held a number of advisory and board positions including with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Ethnic Communities' Council of New South Wales, Australian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, and the Loreto Vietnam Australia Program, an Australian charity.
A triumph! Deep, raw, and inspirational. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the trauma of war, the story of migration, the humiliation often tied to integration, and hope for a better future. I laughed l, cried, and in the process learned so much! This is a MUST READ for all people who want to feel a touch of humanity!
Cat Thao's family's escape from persecution traverses the horrific jungles of Khmer Rouge Cambodia and into the crowded Thai refugee camps. Against the backdrop of an immigrant experience, Cat Thao tells of her coming of age in Australia, haunted by lingering trauma but buoyed by instincts of hope, reinvention, and survival. From which, finally, the Nguyens were allowed to board a Qantas plane to a freedom they wanted desperately. With wit and poignancy, We Are Here explores an Australia of the 1980s and 1990s, and a family's tireless journey for peace through a young woman's absolute determination to find her place.. Told through the bright and unflinching eyes of Cat Thao, a daughter born in a refugee camp, We Are Here is a memoir that begins in 1975 with her family's gripping exodus by foot out of post-war Vietnam—a dangerous journey, unimaginable to most, on which many perished. In a voice both candid and striking, Cat Thao details her struggles with growing up: from her bad skin and hairy legs to Vietnamese mysticism and kinship, and bound throughout by familial loyalty and honor. But the stark contrasting suburban landscapes of Western Sydney, Australia were not the unalloyed blessing they'd imagined
A trenchant and often deeply sad memoir, detailing a desperately driven life. Adelaide Advertiser