The headmaster's wager

393 pages

English language

Published Nov. 10, 2012 by Doubleday Canada.

ISBN:
978-0-385-66145-4
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OCLC Number:
757055437

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"Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English school in Saigon. He is also abon vivant, a compulsive gambler and an incorrigible womanizer. He is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of the Chen Academy. He is fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, and quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, choosing instead to read the faces of his opponents at high-stakes mahjong tables.

But when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away. In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage, and Laing Jai, a son born to them on …

7 editions

Review of "The headmaster's wager" on 'Goodreads'

I gave this book four stars, not because it's not well-written (it is), and not because the story wasn't engaging and the characters weren't compelling and believable. They were.

It got four stars only because I did not like some of the graphic descriptions of torture and the resultant injuries. I usually steer clear of graphic violence when I read for enjoyment. (I read some horrifying non-fiction for work, sometimes, though.) I read this novel because I was so impressed by this author's previous book, although that, too, was an aberration from my typical reading material.

Lam is a great author, and his protagonist, the headmaster, is a completely infuriating, exasperating and yet sympathetic character. I was rooting for him although I also wanted to shake him.

So, I'd recommend this book to anyone who isn't particularly squeamish.

Subjects

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Fiction
  • History
  • 18.07 English literature outside Europe and the USA
  • Roman
  • Amerikanisches Englisch

Places

  • Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
  • Vietnam
  • Ho Chi Minh City