'The Rains on Tan Son Nhat' is a heartbreaking love story between two star-crossed, mixed-race lovers in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. USAF Major James Saito was a Japanese-Irish American who served as an Intelligence Officer in Tan Son Nhat in 1967. The elegant and poised Air Viet Nam Receptionist Manager Emily Bach Mai was Vietnamese and Jewish-German origin and an adopted daughter of a prominent Vietnamese doctor. They first met at Tan Son Nhat Airport, Saigon, and, unknown of her marital status, he fell madly in love with her. The story was about how they both went through an eventful romance interwoven with the Vietnam War's historical events. From their first meeting in a fleeting rain shower during a terrorist attack to the last heart-wrenching rainstorm, the readers are transported back into Vietnam's darkest period of political turmoil, civil war, and the horrific final moments of Saigon, South Vietnam in April 1975. With meaningful and carefully curated details, the novel depicts two lovers among millions of Vietnamese whose destiny was to face the end of the longest war in the 20th century.
It has taken the author over 25 years to research and pen this novel. More than a love story, the book also conveys the belief that "no one is wiser than his/her destiny." It explains the philosophical contrasts of Christianity and Buddhism in Vietnamese culture. The author also presents differing viewpoints of the impact of American involvement in Vietnam. Most of all, the novel tells how war has impacted three generations of the main characters' families.
NO ONE IS WISER THAN HIS/HER DESTINY
The Rains on Tan Son Nhat