The House on Dream Street : Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam

A “vividly detailed” memoir of traveling to the formerly forbidden country and exploring life and culture in Hanoi (Kirkus Reviews). For years after the Vietnam War, Americans were unable to visit the country, so once tourist visas became available, young Dana Sachs eagerly applied. Born in the early 1960s, she had little memory of the war and its history, but yearned to know more about this Southeast Asian nation, with its odd mix of capitalism and communism and its streets crowded with bicycles. In this unusual travel memoir, she recounts arriving as a backpacker in the late 1980s; moving in with a family and earning her keep by teaching English; encountering a salesman offering remains of American “poes and meeas”—which she finally recognizes as “POWs and MIAs”—and falling for a motorcycle mechanic named Phai. The House on Dream Street is a warm, witty portrait of a country on the cusp of change—and of a woman learning to know her own heart. “Engrossing . . . Sachs bravely renders Vietnam through fresh eyes.” —Publishers Weekly Dana Sachs went to Hanoi when tourist visas began to be offered to Americans; she was young, hopeful, ready to immerse herself in Vietnamese culture. She moved in with a family and earned her keep by teaching English, and she soon found that it was impossible to blend into an Eastern culture without calling attention to her Americanness—particularly in a country where not long ago she would have been considered the enemy. But gradually, Vietnam turned out to be not only hospitable, but the home she couldn't leave. Sachs takes us through two years of eye-opening experiences: from her terrifying bicycle accidents on the busy streets of Hanoi to how she is begged to find a buyer for the remains of American "poes and meeas" (POWs and MIAs). The House on Dream Street is also the story of a community and the people who become inextricably, lovingly, a part of Sachs's life, whether it's her landlady who wonders why at twenty-nine she's not married, the children who giggle when she tries to speak the language, or Phai, the motorcycle mechanic she falls for. The House on Dream Street is both the story of a country on the cusp of change and of a woman learning to know her own heart. Dana Sachs went to Hanoi when tourist visas began to be offered to Americans; she was young, hopeful, ready to immerse herself in Vietnamese culture. She moved in with a family and earned her keep by teaching English, and she soon found that it was impossible to blend into an eastern culture without calling attention to her Americanness--particularly in a country where not long ago she would have been considered the enemy. But gradually, Vietnam turned out to be not only hospitable, but the home she couldn't leave. Sachs takes us through two years of eye-opening experiences: from her terrifying bicycle accidents on the busy streets of Hanoi to how she is begged to find a buyer for the remains of American "poes and meeas" (POWs and MIAs). The House on Dream Street is also the story of a community and the people who become inextricably, lovingly, a part of Sachs's life, whether it's her landlady who wonders why at 29 she's not married, the children who giggle when she tries to speak the language or Phai, the motorcycle mechanic she falls for. The House on Dream Street is both the story of a country on the cusp of change and of a woman learning to know her own heart A "vividly detailed" memoir of traveling to the formerly forbidden country and exploring life and culture in Hanoi ( Kirkus Reviews ). For years after the Vietnam War, Americans were unable to visit the country, but once tourist visas became available, young Dana Sachs eagerly applied. Born in the early 1960s, she had little memory of the war and its history, but yearned to know more about this Southeast Asian nation, with its odd mix of capitalism and communism and its streets crowded with bicycles. In this unusual travel memoir, she recounts arriving as a backpacker in the late 1980s; moving in with a family and earning her keep by teaching English; encountering a salesman offering remains of American "poes and meeas"?which she finally recognizes as "POWs and MIAs"?and falling for a motorcycle mechanic named Phai. The House on Dream Street is a warm, witty portrait of a country on the cusp of change?and of a woman learning to know her own heart. "Engrossing . . . Sachs bravely renders Vietnam through fresh eyes." ? Publishers Weekly In this heartfelt memoir, Dana Sachs takes the reader on a sensual and textured voyage to a country most Americans think about only in terms of war. A finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award, this deftly written narrative reveals how Sachs settled in with slick, warmhearted Tung and his quietly tenacious wife Huong in Hanoi and made a place for herself in “enemy” territory. With vivid descriptions of the community—the noodle stalls and roaring motorcycles, the vestiges of French colonialism, and the encroachment of glittering high-rises—Sachs explores the tenuous balance between the traditions of old Vietnam and a country in the throes of modernization. Sachs’s honest depiction of her difficulties renders her triumphs and love for the country and its people all the more poignant and compelling. This edition includes a new afterword by the author.