The White Pebble: Madame Nhu's Memoirs - Paperback

by Tuong Vu (Editor), Trần Lệ Xuân (Author)

No
other Vietnamese family in modern time had such an intense involvement in high
politics and public affairs as the Ngô Đìnhs. Through the tenure of President
Ngô Đình Diệm of the Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963), this family helped shape
Vietnamese history in numerous ways. President Diệm's rule in South Vietnam was
perceived by many to be authoritarian and nepotistic, but it is important for
historians in general and for anyone interested in Vietnamese history in
particular to learn more about his family members who played such important
roles in his government. How did they see themselves, their country, and their
compatriots? How did they view the family's role in history? Sixty
years after the death Ngô Đình Nhu, English-language readers can now learn
about Madame Ngô Đình Nhu's life from her own words and recollections.
Furthermore, in an essay accompanying their mother's narrative in The
White Pebble, the late Ngô Đình Lệ Quyên and Quỳnh (along with Jacqueline
Willemetz) join their mother to defend the integrity of the Diệm government and
the Ngô Đình family against their critics. By telling the family's history
alongside that of the Vietnamese nation, Ngô Đình Nhu's children wanted to
demonstrate the sincerity and depth of patriotism in the family.

This book not only
provides a unique account of Madame Nhu and the Ngô Đình family by its members
but also illuminates politics in Republican Vietnam and its troubled
relationship with the United States.