Clément Baloup

Having recounted the experience of Vietnamese refugees and forced laborers in France in the first volume, Baloup now travels to the United States to interview Vietnamese Americans who fled Vietnam during and after the end of the war.

The majority of the book is given over to the tales of three women: one is the victim of sexual assault, another is detained in Vietnamese re-education camps, and the third is involved in a series of bad relationships. All are admirable for the fortitude they display in overcoming the obstacles and setbacks on their determined courses to better lives.

Trigger warnings: The rape scene is fairly graphic. There are scenes of a suicide and suicide attempt.

There is also a weirdly discomforting meta scene of naked women worried that someone is peeping at them.… (mehr)

This collection of two French graphic novels is a well done representation of the oral histories of Vietnamese emigrants, refugees and forced laborers. In the first section, the writer/artist recounts the experiences of his father and other Vietnamese refugees who fled the country during and after the Vietnam War. The second half presents the research and personal testimonies that resulted in journalist Pierre Daum's book, Immigrés de force: Les travailleurs indochinois de la second guerre mondiale, about 20,000 Vietnamese citizens who were forced to relocate to France during World War II to labor in support of the war effort for the French and Vichy governments.

Being a history aficionado, I was fascinated by the subject matter and the multiple and varied perspectives of the firsthand accounts Baloup and Daum diligently gathered.… (mehr)