This is a memoir about the author’s Hmong mother Tswb and her challenging life story. Born in a village where two rivers meet in Laos, Tswb and her family had to flee from being persecuted by their country’s communist faction during the Laotian civil war after the Americans evacuated Laos. Living and moving constantly in the jungle to evade the soldiers, she marries and then escapes to Thailand with her husband’s family leaving her own family behind in Laos. After eight years living in a refugee camp in Thailand, they apply for and are approved for immigration to the U.S. and move to the state of Minnesota, where her story continues as she is challenged to adjust to a new life, earn a living in a different environment, and raise a family. Overall this book was a good read. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. I felt the writing flowed well and the language was a lot more expressive and even poetic at times than the second half of the book set in the U.S. The second part of the book wasn’t as smooth as the first part, but seemed to jump around a bit, then came to anchor with the birth of the next child and then the next. I would have liked more specifics about how Tswb and her husband navigated life in the U.S. as immigrants and particularly how their kids, including the author, graduated from great universities and became successful - what an achievement, given their challenging lives. Maybe there’s another book in the works on this! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Kao Kalia Yang has already demonstrated her tremendous skill as a memoirist with The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir and The Song Poet. In this book, she uses her talents to tell the story of her mother, Tswb, who was born in Laos in 1961. And this may well be her best memoir yet and is great reading for everyone.

The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 1959 to 1975. The American’s “Secret War” in Laos threw the country into further violent turmoil. The Hmong had worked with the Americans, but after the Americans left Southeast Asia and the Pathet Lao came fully into power in 1975, the Pathet Lao vowed that the Hmong people would be exterminated "to the last root”.

To escape this genocide, the people fled into the jungle. Many of the survivors were captured, “re-educated”, and remained in Laos. Even so, tens of thousands fled to refugee camps in Thailand. From1975 to 1982, over 50,000 Hmong and other highland Laotian refugees were resettled in the United States and thousands more in other countries.

This memoir is a story of family, love, and survival. The poverty, racism, and grueling labor that Tswb and her husband faced after their escape from Laos was daunting. No, it was horrific. And yet they were able to persevere.

People who wish to slam the doors on refugees should take the time to read this book and perhaps consider the possibility that this is not an exceptional story but one that is lived out by thousands of families each day.

What a very interesting book about this WONAN. Called KAO KALL. LYANS.. She wrote this book.
About her mother and was called p.S w b m u s h. It starts out In L a s. When she is growing up she has a very good childhood. Her mother was the second wife because the othe a wife l Die. Family was very interesting because there are a lot of different ways, please. Her sister kept getting married and kept coming back. Because She divorced her husbands. Things went south when the americans left and i' Vietnamese we're coming in. They had to leave their homes and Fl ED. Through the jungles. TS WB met her husband this way and she was only 16. When they marry. It was hard at first for her because she had a baby and almost died but it lived. They settle in a r The refugee camp. It was hard living there and they had a lot of problems in their marriage because he was not what she expected. She kept losing babies as well. Finally had a little girl. She made the decision to come to america because her some of her family was already here. Her husband didn't really want to go because he wanted to stay with His mother. When they came to America it was very difficult because they had a lot of problems.There as well. But they made a life for themselves in america.. They did. They did well for themselves. And the children who've done with their lives and pursued education, which is amazing. I finally had two B o y s.. One time and I went to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, where they lived.This was a big treat For them. The 2 oldest girls We're born over seas. The younger children were born here in the united states and they had a different perspective online. Children married And had great careers. The 2 rivers is where the mother was born In village Call AS. There was a river in minneapolis which And two Rivers as well. The daughter did an excellent job explaining about their lives and triumphs.Great book

Yang was six when she came with her family to the US. Born in a refugee camp in Thailand—where her parents lived for almost a decade—she did not know her family's native Laos, but she is clearly determined to not let her family's Hmong history be forgotten. She's previously told her father's story and more broadly her family's (as well as other books about refugee and immigrant life); now, in "Where Rivers Part", Yang turns her lens to her mother, Tswb's, story.

"My mom is afraid that no one will be interested in a story about her life. She and my father tell me that just because they have lived hard lives doesn't mean they are incredible; they both remind me that the hardness in their lives is nothing more than the sorrow they share with those who have been through wars, who know poverty, who understand what it's like to live without power or belonging on your side. My mom is afraid that I have wasted my time in writing the story of her life." (loc. 28*)

And, well. I'm glad Yang didn't listen. Her mother's story might be similar to that of other refugees, but if anything that makes it more powerful rather than less. It's a hell of a book, with a hell of a through-line: in the wilds of Laos, fleeing the violence that had turned their quiet lives upside-down, Tswb made the decision to marry, to leave her family for another. The act of leaving her mother would haunt her for decades to come.

"By the light of the moon, I [Tswb] dug a hole big enough to bury the photographs I had kept with me of my mother, my father, myself, my sisters, and my brothers. I wished I had a plastic bag to keep the photographs in. One day, I wanted to return for the photographs, old black-and-white images that blossomed and bloomed with color in my memories of what we had shared." (loc. 1679)

Either Yang and her mother had some incredibly detailed conversations and interviews about Tswb's life, or Yang has an incredibly empathetic imagination; either way, the complexity of emotion and experience that Tswb goes through in the course of this book is devastating. (I'd love to know more about the process of writing the book, because even if Tswb didn't think her story worth telling, she clearly trusted her daughter to do it right.) It's not just the obvious losses—home and homeland, deaths, loss of a known or at least expected future—but things like having to leave behind the graves of loved ones; having to leave behind the only pictures you have of those loved ones; not knowing when or if you'll ever see any of those people and things again. And: the moment Twsb says "I had known your [her children's] father's mother for longer than I had known mine." (loc. 3575) There are moments of beauty in here too, and of joy, but it's the wrestling with loss and grief that hits the hardest.

"The Latehomecomer" was already on my TBR, but I'm even more eager to read it now...and then I may have to add "The Song Poet" to the mix as well.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

A story of resilience. Yang has written a memoir about her mother Tswb's life, a life constantly on the move. This is an interesting introduction to the Hmong, their culture, their beliefs, and most of all their difficult history in the wake of the war in Southeast Asia. Tswb's family, like so many others, was split as things fell apart. She left her mother and brothers behind to go with her husband Npi on a journey that ends in the US. Their assimilation, their challenges, their successes are a tribute to the determination of this family. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Where Rivers Part is Kaokalia’s mother, Tswb,’s story but is also the story of so many Hmong refugees. We follow Tswb’s life: growing up in Dej Tshuam, fleeing into the jungles during the Secret War, life in the Thai refugee camps, and finally adapting to life in America.

This story tugged at my heartstrings. Like Tswb, many people I know and love faced the same challenges and traumas of war. The first half of this book read like a historical fiction; I often forgot I was reading a memoir.

However, I wish this story was told with more emotion. While Kaokalia’s prose is undoubtedly beautiful, her writing is very linear, “I did this, then that. This happened, then that.” But this story, like many refugee stories, is extremely emotional and I wish that shined through. I also wish we were given more context on the war. While I don’t think it’s necessary for authors to give history lessons, I think it is important in this instance because the Hmong’s history is still largely unfamilar to the general public.

That said, I also hope that this book is still deep in editing because there were so many inconsistencies: Npis vs Bee, Xieng Khouang vs Xiengkhouang, etc. At around the 60% mark, the prose started to feel very sloppy with details that didn’t add much to Tswb’s story.

All in all, I really enjoyed Where Rivers Part. I’m excited for a broader audience to learn about the Hmong people and our history. If you enjoyed The Mountains Sing, Dust Child, and The Latehomecomer, you’ll enjoy this one.

An exceptionally well-written book about the author's mother told in her voice. From a young age growing up in a small village in Laos, Tswb escapes the genocide with her family by hiding in the jungle. She meets her husband there, marries, and leaves her own mother behind while eventually relocating with his family to a refugee camp in Thailand. Tswb survives many miscarriages throughout the years, but gives birth to two daughters and the family ends up in the state of Minnesota where they learn a whole new way of life.

Where Rivers Part is an incredible story about Hmong refugees and what they had to endure. After helping the U.S. during the Vietnam War, they were left behind only to be hunted down and killed for helping the enemy. The author's style of writing is honest, heartfelt, and compelling. I've read the author's other books and even met her in person.. I truly enjoy her writing and learning about the Hmong people and their culture.

Kao Kalia Yang's memoir about her mother's life, Where Rivers Part, is one of the best memoirs that I have ever read. Yang's lyrical prose is so well written that I had to confirm that this beautiful book was indeed a memoir and not a novel.

The dangers of Laos to the Hmong people in the wake of the Laotian Civil War are explained through the lives of Yang's family centered around her mother Tswb. The love between mother and children is an inspiring theme that runs throughout the entire book. The heroic lengths that Tswb goes through to support her family and the love returned by her family are heartwarming.

I loved that this book was a combination of history, family bonds and stories of overcoming great adversity. Where Rivers Part is an absolute must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am looking forward to reading all of Kao Kalia Yang's books to learn more about her remarkable family.