Monday, August 23, 2010

THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY MOVEMENT by Camilla Gibb (2010)


This eagerly-anticipated novel follows on the heels of Gibb's best-selling, Trillium Award-winning SWEETNESS IN THE BELLY, a book of rare intelligence and emotional truth. THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY MOVEMENT is in every way as profound and affecting as SWEETNESS IN THE BELLY.

Set in contemporary Vietnam, it features a memorable cast of hardworking locals including Tu, a guide for English-speaking tourists, his father Binh, and the iconic Old Man Hung, a travelling pho seller whose connection to the past unites them and Maggie Ly, a Vietnamese-born, American-educated Art Historian who is curating the Metropole Hotel's contemporary art collection for very personal reasons.

Through a masterfully crafted third-person perspective, each of the characters becomes the reader's intimate and Gibb presents the gritty heart of Vietnam--rife with sights and smells and sounds--so convincingly written that it feels as though you've made the journey there alongside Hung, "wondering whether this is the afterlife or the present life."

Read THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY MOVEMENT, especially if you care about freedom of expression, the lasting importance of art, and the value of true friendship.

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