Reunification Express

by Gunilla Caulfield

A story of love and war, and of a journey by a young woman looking for her grandfather, long missing and presumed dead in Vietnam. The narrator is the soul of Daniel, who has taken up residence in his rebellious and feisty daughter Nicki. Nicki shamelessly begs funds from two boyfriends in order to make the trip—the brash and ambitious Joe in California, and Isaac, the hometown boy, who is devoted to her. In Paris, the first stop on the journey, Nicki meets and enlists the help of Leon, an old friend of her grandfather’s from his days as a war correspondent in Vietnam. Nicki’s mother, Eliane, with whom Nicki has a strained relationship, is following right behind—accompanied by Daniel’s best friend, Bill. Best friend? Daniel’s soul is eaten by jealousy, and a strange love triangle develops.
“Reunification Express” is the nickname for a slow-moving train connecting North and South Vietnam, crossing the old Demilitarized Zone. It comes to symbolize Nicki’s search for Grandfather Owen, who she stubbornly believes is alive somewhere in Vietnam. Nicki and the impatient, mute soul of Daniel search her grandfather’s old haunts along the Tonkin Bay, Da Nang, Hue and Hanoi. They travel in silence, a team unable to communicate.
When Nicki is in trouble, Leon comes to her aid and brings her to the beautiful Halong Bay, the last place her grandfather was known to have gone. But who is Leon really, and what are his true motives? After a long and arduous journey they end up at Dien Bien Phu, high up in the mountainous region of northwestern Vietnam, for a final showdown.

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2010