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Formats
Paperback Details
  • 02/2021
  • 978-0-9972927-2-5
  • 151 pages
  • $14.95
Bill Pearl
Author
Mission in Paris 1990
Bill Pearl, author

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)

This novel, set during the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, explores reconciliation among people and nations. It tells a powerful love story - between a man and a woman and between a father and a son. It’s about the strength of love and the power of forgiveness—a lesson that reconciliation must take place within us if it is ever to take hold between us. 
Reviews
Pearl’s sequel to Hearts on Fire, Paris 1968 again finds Robert Samberg at the center of real-world conflict between west and east, this time following the one-time student firebrand tasked by the U.S. government during the first Bush administration with a mission of reconciliation. Samberg, now a high-rolling radio tycoon, gets dispatched to Hanoi and then Paris to lead back channel negotiations aimed at restoring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, 22 years after having served as a secret go-between for Lyndon Johnson and Le Duc Tho. Complicating matters, as always, are politics, business, and the heart, as Samberg discovers that the representative of the Vietnam he will be facing is My Hanh, the Vietnamese woman who broke his heart in the ‘60s–and whose son, a young firebrand, has Samberg’s eyes.

Swift paced and committed to realism, Pearl’s follow-up boasts sharp, thoughtful dialogue pitting ideologies against each other. At an awkward meeting, An, Hanh’s son, denounces the “collective responsibility” and “rhetorical progressivism” of Americans, while Samberg, an anti-war Democrat, finds himself on the defensive, accused of culpability for a tragedy he risked his life to stop. “I grew up,” Samberg replies when Hanh asks how a leader of France’s 1968 student revolution could become a proud capitalist; the tension between Samberg’s self regard and how Hanh sees him adds nuance and power to their scenes.

Those scenes move so quickly, though, with shocking revelations and vituperative accusations, that the emotional beats don’t always land. Pearl reports what Samberg says in these tense moments, but doesn’t always plumb his mind and heart. Elsewhere, descriptive passages engaged with history pulse with emotion, evoking pain, weight, and even beauty of history. When the story turns violent, Pearl avoids fantasy, understanding that it’s the brutal risk of heroism that makes it heroic, a wise touch in a novel that will appeal to readers eager to face history.

Takeaway: A fast-paced and realistic novel of an American facing the legacy of the Vietnam War.

Great for fans of: Donald Anderson’s Aftermath: An Anthology of Post-Vietnam Fiction, Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Goodreads

4/16/21

This was such a quick and gripping story to read. I went in with zero expectations, and it was so eye-opening, fast-paced, and delightful. It shows how a modern-day millionaire has deeper issues than his businesses. Especially when people have more and more burn-outs, I think this book perfectly highlights the importance of putting feelings and unresolved issues above success. Besides this, it's a heartwarming story about true love and how different cultures need to find their way together. It even includes family traumas that can spin your life in a direction that wouldn't at all be necessary if you only knew the truth...

Tamara 

News
05/19/2021
PEARL NABS PUBLISHIG DEAL IN FRANCE

PROUD TO ANNOUNCE HERE THAT GROUPE HARMATTAN, PARIS HAS OFFERED TO PUBLISH THE FRENCH EDITION OF MISSION IN PARIS 1990. CONTRACT ARRIVED IN MY INBOX THIS MORNING! SPECIAL THANKS TO XAVIER PREYEN AND HIS TEAM AND TO THE TRANSLATION TEAM, MELTING TRAD IN CLERMONT-FERRAND FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE. I'M OFF TO PARIS AND AUVERNGE IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. HAPPY, TOO TO SEE FRANCE OPENING AGAIN! VIVE LA FRANCE! 

Formats
Paperback Details
  • 02/2021
  • 978-0-9972927-2-5
  • 151 pages
  • $14.95
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