A River in May

A gripping, eye-opening about the Vietnam War by a writer who served there

Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize

'The best Vietnam novel ever, which everyone should read' Alan Silitoe, Independent on Sunday

'One of my favourite books of the year' Time Out

'There's no getting away from the book's raw power - highly recommended' Mail on Sunday

'Wilson's tale, addressing the suffering of the Vietnamese, has integrity and evocative details . . . a worthwhile addition to the war novel' Metro

What happens when a bunch of murderous gringos are let loose on a third-world country?

The country is Vietnam and the war has escalated into a technological bloodbath. Lyndon Johnson is in the White House and each night on the network news programmes Americans watch their soldiers returning in their thousands in plastic body bags.

In Vietnam, Lieutenant Lopez, a twenty-three-year-old American of Mexican origin, has volunteered for a tour of duty to escape not the cocoon of privilege his adoptive parents have wrapped him in but a personal tragedy in which he is implicated. Lopez has been assigned to a remote border camp defended by a US Special Forces team and by Vietnamese irregulars. At first he regards the war as a personal penance, but is gradually forced out of his self-pity

“'There's no getting away from the book's raw power - highly recommended.'”

'Wilson's tale, addressing the suffering of the Vietnamese, has integrity and evocative details...a worthwhile addition to the war novel.' -- Robert Murphy Metro London -- Simon Shaw The Mail on Sunday

Edward Wilson is a native of Baltimore. He studied International Relations on a US Army scholarship and later served as a Special Forces officer in Vietnam. He received the Army Commendation Medal with 'V' for his part in rescuing wounded Vietnamese soldiers from a minefield. His other decorations include the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. After leaving the Army, Wilson became an expatriate and gave up US nationality to become a British citizen. He has also lived and worked in Germany and France, and was a post-graduate student at Edinburgh University. He now lives in Suffolk where he taught English and Modern Languages for thirty years.

A magnificent debut novel, which follows in the spirit of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, in which an alienated student named Lopez joins the Vietnam war to escape from his past and himself. Forced out of self-pity by the brutality and injustice surrounding him, Lopez begins to shed his layers of acquired culture, identifying instead with the Vietnamese and their cause. 'Stylistically sophisticated, visually and emotionally present; the pace is good and the author knows how to hold the reader's attention.' y

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.