Wandering Souls
By: Cecile Pin
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 240
Published: March 21, 2023
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Dates Read: March 5, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: Death, massacres, drowning, grief, war, racism, mentions of alcohol and drug use

Wandering Souls opens in 1978 in Vietnam as Anh and her brother, 14-year-old Minh and 10-year-old Thanh are packing for their trip to a refugee camp in Hong Kong ahead of the rest of their family before they make their way to their Uncle in America. Anh and her brothers make it to Hong Kong, but the rest of the family unfortunately don’t make it through their journey. The siblings eventually get accepted into Great Britain and over the next number of years, struggle to carve out a life for themselves in a country that’s not their own.

Told mostly through Anh’s POV, historical research, voices from lost family, and an unnamed narrator, Wandering Souls follows the lives of the last members of a family marked by war and loss and their persistence in the pursuit of a better future that they set out for years ago.

I read this book in one day, in roughly three settings. The prose of this novel were beautifully written and an emotional rollercoaster that will warrant a box of tissues for sure. Cecile Pin sprinkles in news articles and historical facts, along with personal experiences from an unnamed narrator between sections from the siblings.

This novel really deals with grief and survivor’s guilt of the three siblings. Their parents had such high hopes and dreams for them in America, but when they don’t make it there and are instead in the UK, they have to figure out what they will do instead.

Wandering Souls also opened my eyes to a lot of the horrors Vietnamese people experienced around the world as a result of the Vietnam War. I didn’t know who “boat people” were and both the piracy that could happen to them or the horrid conditions they had to travel in. Or the Koh Kra Island refugee massacres. Even in their own country, the psychological warfare the American would put them through with recordings of voices in the forests.

The dark side of immigration is shined on by Pin, but even with all the heartache, racism, and struggles the characters go through in this book, overall, it’s still about family, love, and grief. I couldn’t put this book down and I can see many others opening their hearts to this family and their journey.

*Thank you Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley for a digital advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review