In Ha’s historical novel, a former intelligence officer’s imprisonment in a communist reeducation camp serves as a lens for examining the Vietnam War and its lasting impact.
It’s 1978, and the protagonist, known as Brother Khang, is “hung butterfly style on a barbed-wire pole” between two men—the trio are also connected by their communist ties. It’s been a year since Brother Khang and his fellow anti-Revolutionaries from South Vietnam lost their freedom under an initiative led by the Ministry of Public Security.