3 Review(s)

The novel is an epistolary novel, written as a letter from a young Vietnamese American man, known as Little Dog, to his illiterate mother, Rose. This format allows for a deeply intimate and reflective narrative, where Little Dog shares his life experiences and insights, including aspects his mother could never know or fully understand due to her illiteracy and their cultural and generational divides. The narrative is non-linear, weaving together memories from Little Dog's childhood in Hartford, Connecticut, with accounts of his family's history rooted in wartime Vietnam, creating a mosaic-like exploration of memory and identity.