The Nobility of Our Hearts

From Bến Súc to Sài Gòn to Austin

By: Louis Tuệ Hovanky, Kim Thinh Hovanky

Narrated by: BJ Schraff

The Nobility of Our Hearts: From Bến Súc to Sài Gòn to Austin spans the remarkable events of 20th-century Vietnam: from French rule to the Great Depression, from the Second World War to the Vietnamese civil war that involved the US.

At the center of this global history stands one Vietnamese woman, Cẩm Hồng. Whether she is embarking alone at the age of 14 on an ocean liner to Bordeaux to pursue her education, experiencing the bombing of Sài Gòn that forces her family to hide in the jungle while she endures the death of her daughter, witnessing the enlistment of three of her sons in the Vietnamese Armed Force, or finally escaping from Vietnam as a refugee to ultimately settle in Austin, Texas, Cẩm Hồng is a steadfast testament to perseverance and the Confucian values that sustained her.

This is the real story of South Vietnam, not simply the horrific experience of one particular decade. It provides an expanded perspective of the full history of Vietnam while engaging the listener through intimate details and novelistic techniques to create a beguiling and dramatic work of nonfiction.

©2018 Hovanky Publications, LLC (P)2019 Hovanky Publications, LLC

Masterpiece

This is the story of Vietnam and the people of Vietnam that all Americans need to know. The characters come alive when we meet a young teenager who is not afraid to go alone on an ocean liner to France on her own one hundred years ago to get an education. Amazing strength of character. I loved this story in the written book and enjoy listening to the narration that brings it alive.