Customer Reviews

The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir

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I had the privilege of reading a pre-publication manuscript of this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Kao Kalia Yang tells the story of her family--which in Hmong culture extends far beyond one's parents and siblings. From the jungles of Laos, where her family lived before she was born, across the treacherous Mekong River, into Thailand's Ban Vinai refugee camp, and ultimately here to the United States, Yang tells us of the alliance her Hmong people made with the US, the dangers they experienced as a result of America's withdrawal from Southeast Asia, their harrowing flight from the only country they had ever known, and the indignities suffered and hopes and dreams shared while living an uncertain life in a refugee camp. At the center of this unforgettable tale is Yang's grandmother, who struggles to keep her family together in the camp, but must ultimately surrender to the inevitability of their parting. Through Yang and her family we are connected to the challenges, pains, joys, and triumphs of the refugee/immigrant experience and the love and dedication of a family unlike any we have met before, yet as familiar and comfortable as any we are likely to know. We are drawn into Yang's seductive prose, the poignancy of her family's and her own circumstances, and the hope that their suffering, including that of her grandmother, who ultimately comes to America, will somehow be redeemed in this new country that in many ways necessitated their flight from Laos. This irresistable and moving debut--and its author--deserve a wide and appreciative audience.

What a beautiful book. Although the emotional experience may be felt among many Hmongs who endured the Secret War and migration era, each detail and descriptor of the author's experience is raw, fresh, and beautiful. One of a kind and completely respectful and true to the Hmong. I would recommend this book for everybody and especially those who had forgotten or suppressed the Hmong in them. Great preservation of Hmong culture and experience post Secret War for future generations.

Living as a young child in a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand in the 1980s, Kao Kalia Yang says she "discovered the shapes of stories, how to remember them, and how to tell them." Her memoir, The Latehomecomer, is a heartrending account of those stories, from her parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and siblings--a chronicle of a people who "had not had the opportunity to write their stories down" and whose history is shamefully absent from American accounts of the Vietnam War. The Latehomecomer is also an insightful narrative of Yang's own formation: an émigré becoming an American and a sad, silent child becoming a writer of remarkable wisdom.

The Latehomecomer is a triumph--a testimony to the most beautiful and the most terrible of our humanity. Yang writes with the confidence of one who knows that her family's story is one worth telling. Her story is compelling in its scope of historical events alone. It is a must-read for its lucid portrayal of Hmong immigrants, the lasting effects of the Vietnam War, and the struggles of a people betrayed by our nation's failures during and after that war. But what makes Yang's memoir astonishingly beautiful is the rendering of those events by someone who has been learning from her first years of life how to be a truly gifted storyteller.

I would like to thank the author for writing such a lyrically beautiful book about our human experiences. This is a necessary reading for those of us who care about each other--through this book, we learn about cultural beliefs of the Hmong, their political experience, and spiritual beings. This book will find its place next to the great literature of this country and will be read for generations to come. It is truly a gift.

So I really loved The Latehomecomer, more than I thought I would in fact. I was really captivated by the author's tone. I love the lyrical quality of it - it seems to me she is telling us the story of her family in the same ways that her relatives probably told each other verbally. I was also just amazed with the story of the Hmong. I could've used some more background and facts, but I suppose that's not what the book is about and the reader can always do their own research on such things.

One thing that I did find myself discontent with was that we sort of lost the thoughts and feelings of the parents once the narration started coming from Kao Kalia Yang. I like how in the beginning, she included the thoughts and trials of her parents, and I found the growing love story there to be one of the most fascinating parts of the book. Then, however, once Yang was old enough the narration begun from her point of view, and we never really were able to get inside the parents heads again. I know she must have interviewed them about the things that happened before she was born, in order to write the story. I wish she would have continued with this tactic, maybe intertwining it with her own experiences as the book went on. I desired the thoughts and feelings of the parents especially when the son was born, I wish I could've had their side of the story, in addition to Yang's, there in particular.

I do think it's kind of odd that the author concentrates so much on making it clear she's telling her grandmother's story, because up until the last part, it seems more her story. I don't mind the change, but it's interesting. I guess it does span the grandmother's life, not hers. I did find one thing interesting, how the grandmother always carries everything with her at the end, and has no place she resides permanently, and how that parallels the Hmong having no homeland.

Overall though, I have no huge complaints about this wonderful book. I really enjoyed it.

I was not particularly interested in this book or its author. Then I saw her speak at Conversations of the Valley in Stillwater, MN...and I fell in love. Kao Kalia opens her mouth and poetry comes out. I ran...not walked...to the bookstore to buy the book. It did not disappoint. It felt like a continuation of Kao Kalia's presentation. Each word is so carefully chosen, and the story itself is haunting and beautiful A rare glimpse of life within the Hmong community...I'm so glad they've chosen Minnesota as their home.

While I did have to give it a couple of tries before I got into this memoir, and I admit I found roughly the second half of the book slow, I would still like to pass it along to others. I knew very little about the Hmong people, let alone their political situation, their beliefs, and their lives after coming to the U.S. before picking up Yang's memoir on a recommendation from a friend; I'm now intrigued and plan to read more. The Latehomecomer is a poignant look at the lives of these first and second generation Americans.

I loved this book. It chronicles one Hmong family-- one inspiring determined matriarch, her many adult children, and their progeny-- from the mountainous jungles of Cambodia through years in a refuge camp in Thailand to their new home among the cold flatlands of Minnesota. In the process it weaves in the history of the Hmong as not-at-home wanderers living around the edges of China, chased to Cambodia, Thailand. Finally, so late, coming home to America, where it took so long to establish; their immigrant story as familiar to all families who made it from their old country, but unique in gifts and challenges to this family and this culture. All told in a lyrical, dreamlike voice of a girl in the family (who had gone on to get a masters at Columbia) with the fresh, nonjudgmental sight of a child but the wisdom of her experience. It is a great personal story- I read it enraptured on a train across country- but also leaves me with boundless respect, and far more understanding and curiosity about, my Hmong neighbors. bravo.

The book is well-written and touching. It imparts a view of the suffering caused by the Vietnam War and its "collateral damage" in surrounding countries. It also contrasts life in Laos before, during and after the war with life in the United States. It is skillfully written, and although biographical, reads like a good novel. It is also a good representation of the immigrant experience in America. Strong family bonds and ties to the community are emphasized as a basic glue in the Lao experience and culture. The author's grandmother is an especially compelling character, bridging both her old world and her new one. There is a strong spiritual element represented in particular by her grandmother. There is also a strong emphasis on the importance of education. It is uplifting and well worth reading especially by anyone interested in immigrant experiences or the Vietnam War era.

If you're Hmong, it's a must read. If you're not, it's still a must read.

Why? Yang's writing style warms the heart and soul. The personal journey, the family journey, and the journey of reading this book will make many of us a better human being--for it reminds most of us of the things we forget: life is precious, family is precious, and the ability to turn one's dream (publishing the book) into a reality that others are touched by is too, precious...and priceless.

Looking forward to the next book.

Patch Xiong