Author(s): Khue Pham

Fiction | In Translation | New Fiction | July 2024

A young woman, torn between two cultures, belonging to neither. A family, torn apart by a war they had no choice about.

Kieu, who calls herself Kim because it's easier for Europeans to pronounce, knows little about her Vietnamese family's history until she receives a Facebook message from her estranged Uncle Sơn in America, telling her that her grandmother, her father's mother, is dying. The two brothers haven't spoken since the end of the Vietnam War. Minh, Kieu's father, supported the Vietcong, while Son sided with the Americans.

When Kieu and her parents travel to America to join the rest of the family in the California for the funeral, questions relating to their past - to what has been suppressed - resurface and demand to be addressed.


'A groundbreaking work in German literature, Phạm's novel marks a seminal accomplishment that tells the dignified, thorough, and epic story of a Vietnamese family through clear, gem-like sentences and unflinching observations. With Pham's vision, nothing is left unturned and all things are salvaged and lost at once. A courageous and bold achievement by a bright new voice.'
-Ocean Vuong

'Intriguing, immediate and occasionally harrowing, Brothers and Ghosts by Khue Pham is a moving tale of exile, identity and self-discovery. Focussing on first and second-generation Vietnamese emigrants, the novel should appeal to fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah.'
-New Books in German