The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds," a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship. - From the publisher
Pulitzer Prize
International Dublin Literary Award
Andrew Carnegie Medal
Edgar Award
Asian Pacific American Award
ALA Notable
Booklist Editor's Choice
New York Times Notable
Riley and Jen have been best friends since they were children. It never mattered to them that Riley is black and Jen is white, and as adults, they remain as close as sisters. Jen is married and pregnant, while Riley is a television journalist poised to become one of the first Black female anchors in Philadelphia. But when Jen's city police officer husband is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager, Jen's friendship with Riley is thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.
Cinnamon Jones dreams of stepping on stage and acting her heart out like her famous grandparents, Redwood and Wildfire. But at 5'10" and 180 pounds, she's theatrically challenged. Her family life is a tangle of mystery and deadly secrets, and nobody is telling Cinnamon the whole truth. Before her older brother died, he gave Cinnamon The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer, a tale of a Dahomean warrior woman and an alien from another dimension who perform in Paris and at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The Chronicles may be magic or alien science, but the story is definitely connected to Cinnamon's family secrets. When an act of violence wounds her family, Cinnamon and her theatre squad determine to solve the mysteries and bring her worlds together
