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Content Warning: violence, death (including that of a child), war, colonization, misogyny.
In the Lạc Việt region of ancient Vietnam, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhi are the daughters of a Lord, living in a world smothered by colonization. Growing up under the thumb of their Han colonizers, Trắc and Nhi struggle to stay true to the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors, training in the hopes that one day, they will become Lords after their father, and, perhaps, begin a revolution that will be the undoing of the Han. But while Nhi is impulsive, vengeful, and hellbent on becoming a woman that the Han will fear, Trắc feels caught between filial duty and the desire to be her own person. As Nhi and Trắc become more and more unhappy with their life under Han rule, the country is also reaching its breaking point, primed for an insurrection that Nhi and Trắc will end up being more involved in than they could ever have envisioned.
How painful it is to say that this book was a disappointment for me! It had actually been on my radar since it came out (all the way back in 2022), and I'd never quite gotten around to it, but when I got it as a gift, I decided it was time to see if Bronze Drum was everything I'd imagined it to be. This is a story based off the real lives of two sisters, who did end up leading a major rebellion against the Han (Chinese) colonization of Vietnam, one of them also becoming Vietnam's first ever queen. There is a lot of mixed legend in with the story, as is expected of anything that happened so long ago, but Nguyen's fictional account isn't meant to dissect where the two meet, but rather to explore how Trắc and Nhi might have grown up, and how their radicalization might've taken place.
First and foremost, this examination and exploration of Vietnamese history is fascinating, and while there are deliberate anachronisms (such as the inclusion of áo dài), it's obvious that Nguyen did a lot of research into this time period and that this was a passion project for him. It's fascinating to see a Vietnam that is fighting against its Chinese colonization, and in particular Confucianism, which is so deeply different from the original beliefs of ancient Vietnam. For example, women had much more power in Vietnamese society before being forced to take upon Confucianist philosophy and rhetoric: before, Trắc and Nhi would have been allowed to take on their father's position, title, and land once he died; now, they are forced to find a husband, preferably Han, who will inherit everything their father leaves, since he has no sons.
This is obviously not to say that pre-Han Vietnam was perfect, nor was it a paradise for everyone, but it's a good example of the ways that colonization contort and disturb the belief systems of a people and, in turn, destroys the flow of a country's natural life. It's also a good way of examining how patriarchal, racist, and homophobic structures are aided and, in some cases, created by colonization, but that's a topic for another day.
But now, unfortunately, I must get into what made this book a disappointment for me. Primarily, it has to do with the writing. Typically, I'm not one to be fussy about writing style, so long as it is clear, grammatically correct, and imparts the emotion that's needed into the story -- and while Nguyen's is most definitely the first two, the last one is what I struggled with. It feels as if we are observing this story from a distance, as if we are being told this tale from some third-party narrator, although that is not the case. Trắc and Nhi are one-dimensional, written only as both foils and opposites of one another, and despite the fact that they go through many emotional trials, it somehow never feels as if we are privy to their inner emotions or motivations.
I also feel that though this is intended to be woman-focused, it still continuously centers men. Trắc and Nhi are motivated primarily by, respectively, a husband and a father. Not saying that that can't (obviously) impact their motivations or feelings, but their revolutionary fire always seems to be somehow male-heavy. There are many minor female characters who are never fleshed out that felt as if they would have been such interesting additions to the main narrative, like Mai and a few of the women Nhi and Trắc choose for their generals. Honestly, the male characters suffer from this one-dimensionality as well, so it isn't necessarily a gender problem, but most of the conversations between the women still revolves around men. It's a disappointing and disheartening issue, especially considering how this story is intended as a "feminist" tale of empowerment.
Also, on that note: Nhi and Trắc have no meaningful interactions whatsoever. This might seem like an exaggeration, and perhaps it is, as there seem to be some rather flawed attempts at inserting this into the narrative, but practically speaking, it simply never happens. All of their conversations are brief, strangely emotionless. As someone with a sister, it stuck out to me like a sore thumb, how strangely empty their conversations and ruminations on one another are. There's a simmering layer of resentment and love boiling just beneath the surface with regards to their sisterly relationship, but it's never actually explored, and the entire time, I was frustrated by how it seemed to be pushed to the side again and again. At its best, this story should be one about sisters, particularly since they are so divided in their opinions about everything that is important in their lives, but that potential is, unfortunately, never reached.
I did enjoy the history here, and some of the discussions of the impact of colonization are thoughtful (though also very brief). I wish there had been more depth to the conversations on misogyny that the women in this book face, particularly from the Han, but unfortunately, it's left mostly to the background.
Overall, this book was definitely not for me. I don't like having to be so negative, but there's really only a very little I liked here, and while I did genuinely enjoy some sections, they were not terribly frequent.
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