adoption of Vietnamese babies—need to be con-
textualized within U.S. racism, U.S. intentions in
Asia, and the geopolitical restructuring of the late
20th century.
Told from different perspectives, the stories
relate different experiences. The title story, “We
Should Never Meet,” for example, introduces us
to Kim, who grew up in the California foster care
system. She feels anger at her society for mak-
ing her feel like an outsider. “Bound” is narrated
from the perspective of Bridget, a white Ameri-
can doctor who leaves behind her own daughter
and husband in order to take care of Vietnamese
orphans. “Visitors” is told by Vinh, a boat refugee
orphan whose obligations to his gang force him
to rob an older Vietnamese man who has shown
him kindness. “Motherland” is narrated by Huan,
a mixed-race orphan who returns to Vietnam with
his white adoptive mother who is eager for Huan
to find his roots.
Even though the novel features multiple per-
spectives and narrators, these eight stories are
tightly woven together. For example, Kim, Mai,
and Vinh, who meet while waiting to be put into
foster care, are emotionally bound to one another
even though they inevitably lead separate lives. By
showcasing their connections within the disjunc-
tions of their individual lives, the novel seems to
suggest that the circumstances of their settlement
in the United States tie them even closer to each
other than to their adoptive families.
In addition to the overlapping plotlines, the
novel is also held together by several themes. In
particular, violence against women features prom-
inently in several stories. In “Miss Lien,” the first
story of the novel, young Lien is forced to leave the
safety of her family when an attack on the family
farm leaves the family with no food or provisions.
Lien migrates to a big city filled with potential
sexual predators. As she looks for work and food,
both older Vietnamese men and American soldiers
see Lien as sexually available and vulnerable to
their advances. The tone and imagery of the story
make clear that Lien is raped and has a child; even
at the end of the story, however, the identity of the
father of Lien’s baby remains unclear. Lien’s story,
coming at the beginning of the novel, is positioned
as the possible birth story for any of the orphan
characters in the novel. Shrouded in sexual vio-
lence and loss, the novel portrays these babies as
victims of a war that displaced traditional safety
nets and social structures. In “Emancipation,” or-
phaned Kim fears being touched and recalls being
molested by her foster father. Similarly, Mai rejects
intimacy, hinting at a past of solitude and rejec-
tion. Both the war and “Operation Babylift,” then,
are differently indicted as violence enacted on the
orphans and their mothers.
The novel effortlessly moves back and forth
in time and place between Orange County of the
1990s and Vietnam war-era Saigon. For example,
while the first story takes place in 1970s Saigon and
the last story depicts the return of several orphans
to Ho Chi Mihn City of the 1990s, the novel does
not privilege chronology or linear development.
This fluidity of chronology positions the past as
influential to the present. Similarly, the ease of
movement between Vietnam and the United States
situates these two farflung spaces as intimately
shaping each other every day. As a whole, the novel
suggests that Vietnam and the United States have
inevitably and profoundly changed each other as a
result of the Vietnam War.
Raised among Vietnamese immigrants, Phan
was exposed to many war orphans through her
mother, who, along with Phan’s aunt and uncle,
participated in “Operation Babylift.” As a social
worker in Orange County, Phan’s mother worked
closely with these children and adults, and Phan’s
observations of these orphans provided the
groundwork and inspiration for We Should Never
Meet. This debut novel won critical acclaim and
was named a Notable Book by the Kiryama Prize
in fiction as well as being a finalist for the 2005
Asian American Literary Awards.Bibliography
Ciuraru, Carmela. “Vietnam’s Legacy of Childhood
Displacement.” Los Angeles Times Book Review,
September 24, 2004, E, p. 10.Jinah Kim242 Phan, Aimee