Overview

"The Beauty That Remains charts the author's escape from communist Vietnam, her stay in a Malaysian refugee camp, and her first years in Australia, with all the drama and the hilarity of a bumbling young woman from a small town in Vietnam who tried to learn, adapt and make sense of Australian culture and society. Her boat drifted for a week in the open sea, got caught in a raging storm, survived two pirate attacks; she and her boat companions found themselves in one extraordinary situation to the next before they reached the Malaysian shores where they were allowed to land. Life in a Malaysian refugee camp was a far cry from the author's privileged childhood. People lived in tents and crowded barracks. Strangers slept next to each other, separated only by an invisible demarcation line during the day and the flimsy wall of the mosquito nets at night. Tinned sardines and cooked rice might be tasty, but not if they were part of an unchanged camp's ration. The hygienic condition was appalling. 'Until I left the camp, I had forgotten what clean air smelled like, ' the author wrote. The physical hardship could not dampen the author's sense of joy - the joy of being alive, of being able to sing love songs and cite love poems banned by the communists again for the first time. The author's anecdotes of her early years in Australia reflected her overwhelming sense of love and gratitude towards a generous country and a compassionate people that gave her the precious gift of freedom and the chance to start a new life: 'Back in Vietnam the communists chose the houses they liked. The house owners and their families were thrown out in the street. This happened to my family. Here in Australia, strangers came to our aid and gave us this beautifully furnished house - just like that. All we needed to do was to live in it. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and yet a shy ""thank you"" was all I could mutter.' Personal and historical perspectives are interwoven, shedding new light on the tragedy of Vietnam 'at peace' and the senseless cruelty inflicted on the vanquished South Vietnamese by a revengeful communist force that was the root cause of the Vietnamese Boat People phenomenon. The author skilfully steers the narrative away from a gloomy path. A gentle sense of humour filters through the entire memoir, reminding readers of the lighter side of life, that grace comes with a deep sense of gratitude, and the wonderful healing power of human kindness. There will be many confronting scenes that evoke strong emotions, there will also be many heart-warming moments that cause the reader to smile. So much beauty still remains."

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This is a moving story about people being suddenly thrust into a new place, a new culture and the mental adjustment needed to be able to move forward into another world.In these pages one is privileged to learn the difficult road to a new life in a new country. Tamie Fraser AOIt was that spirit of generosity from a compassionate world that had transformed the Vietnamese refugees' tragic story into a story of hope.The Beauty That Remains is Quynh Dao's personal account of such wonderful transformation that many thousand former Vietnamese boat people and I are living witnesses.Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta and Australian Catholic Bishops Delegate for Migrants and Refugees

This is a moving story about people being suddenly thrust into a new place, a new culture and the mental adjustment needed to be able to move forward into another world. In these pages one is privileged to learn the difficult road to a new life in a new country. Tamie Fraser AO It was that spirit of generosity from a compassionate world that had transformed the Vietnamese refugees' tragic story into a story of hope. The Beauty That Remains is Quynh Dao's personal account of such wonderful transformation that many thousand former Vietnamese boat people and I are living witnesses. Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta and Australian Catholic Bishops Delegate for Migrants and Refugees

Author Information

Quynh Dao escaped Vietnam by boat to Malaysia and came to Australia as a refugee in 1979. She is a member of Amnesty International. Her first book Tales from a Mountain City was shortlisted for the Asher Literary Award in 2011 and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing in 2012. The Beauty That Remains was shortlisted for the Finch Memoir Prize in 2014.

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