New novel tackling life of overseas Vietnamese released

More and more literary works have featured these stories. Recently, a book about the life of a Vietnamese community in Poland has come out, titled "Bóng làng" (or Shadow of the Village), it was written by Trần Quốc Quân, a Vietnamese immigrant in Poland.

The book consists of 9 chapters, each depicting a different character. These 9 characters are all related to each other, and come from Lành village. The story resolves around their work, with their pasts both bringing them together and keeping them apart.

"The village is the image of Vietnam that overseas Vietnamese keep in their mind after migrating to Poland. It represents the Vietnamese's desire to keep their identity while showing the difficulties in adapting to a new environmen", said Tran Quoc Tuan, author of "Bong lang".

Literary critic Pham Xuan Nguyen said: "The Shadow of the Village is that of Vietnamese. They both want to gather in the village, affirming themselves, while at the same time wishing to leave but also feeling lonely. The village itself depicts its residents".

Each story in the book is based on the author's real experiences in his host country. Trần Quốc Quân used to study medicine and is now a successful Vietnamese businessman living in Warsaw, Poland. The book was well-received by readers at its launch in Hanoi. This is the second book by Tran Quoc Quan after his first novel called Tuyết Hoang (Deserted Snow) published by the Youth Publishing House in 2014.